Life in Orre, Past or Present
by Tsuki-no-Kurokage
Summary: Final decision, discontinued. I don't like the fandom anymore. And I will not let someone else continue the story for me because I want it to stay discontinued. Popularity has nothing to do with the discontinuation.
1. Start of the Adventure: Past

Life in Orre, Past or Present

Author's Note: Hi again, people! I'm back with the greatest story in my Purifiers saga, meaning that this story will be the longest and most suspenseful story of the entire Purifiers saga! And don't worry about the reviews; I have enabled anonymous reviews so for those who like this story and are anonymous, please drop in a review right below.

Just a little note before I start with the chapter: I do not really know the storyline of Pokémon Colosseum but I've played XD Gale of Darkness 3 times and I'm almost done with the 4th time, so I know that XD is the sequel to Colosseum, so please. If any of you spot a mistake in chapters about Colosseum storyline, please notify me immediately and I'll make changes to it. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here at all, aside from Purifiers, Pure Powers, Pokémon nicknames, stuff like that. Generally, I do not own much at all. I do, however, own Tora's past. Based on Pokémon Gamecube games. I only have a copy of XD, not Colosseum. I'm still looking for it. I guess it's all sold out… Additionally, I've changed the Shadow Pokémon to other kinds of Pokémon but a few still remain, e.g. in XD, there's a Shadow Butterfree, right? I changed it to a Shadow Beautifly. You know, stuff like that…

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Chapter 1 – Start of the Adventure (Past)

**10 years ago…**

"OK, Lunarina, you and I will try to take that Snag Machine. Solarito, stay here and wait for us, OK?" a young Tora motioned to his Pokémon, an Espeon and an Umbreon.

"Sure, Tora," Solarito, a fine Espeon, replied quietly. Tora and Lunarina, a dazzling Umbreon, tip-toed over to the Team Snagem hideout. It was really messed up, but they were used to it. At that point of time, Team Snagem was feared by fully-grown hamsters and their leader was Gonzap, a giant hamster whose whiskers are like Boss's, except even wilder, as in, they are pointing upright. Gonzap also has a small beard and squinty eyes. No one dared to stand up to him ever, that is, till Tora came along…

Tora was a member of Team Snagem. After his encounter with Mew, he went to Orre with her but she remained in her Ball at all times. Tora got lost easily in Orre as he was too unfamiliar to his surroundings. They seemed alien to him but he got found by Gonzap himself. Tora joined up with Team Snagem as he had no alternative way to survive by himself in Orre. Slowly, but truly, Tora became the best Snagger in the team. Once pure and kind, Tora turned over to the evil side without noticing. He was only kind to Pokémon and wondered what happened to the Pokémon he had Snagged. He has never known what became of them as they were all handed over to Gonzap and he never saw them again.

Lunarina is a beautiful female Umbreon. Her ears are folded to the sides and her yellow rings are as shiny as gold. Lunarina was found as an Eevee while Tora was going out with Team Snagem one fateful day. Lunarina already had fine fur then and it is no surprise that her glossy black fur gives out a little sparkle when she evolved into an Umbreon. Her tail is always tilted down like her ears and her bright red eyes can give you an impression that she is very well-trained. Just looking at her fur can express how nicely-groomed she is, save for some mud and dirt on her paws and forehead.

Solarito is an intelligent-looking male Espeon. His ears are upright and his forked tail curves a little to the right. Unlike a normal Espeon, Solarito's purple fur is a little puffy and he has bangs combed down to cover a bit of his eyes, which is a very nice touch. Solarito was also found as en Eevee with his older sister Lunarina. Just like Lunarina, Solarito can give you an impression that he was also very well-trained and he also has some mud and dirt on his body but the jewel on his forehead is intact.

Anyway, back on the subject, Tora and Lunarina went into a dusty room sneakily. After some looking around, Lunarina spotted something on a random table. Using her tail to sweep away all the dust on that particular table, Lunarina picked it up with her dusty tail and handed it over to Tora. Tora took it from her, inspected it and smiled at Lunarina. He patted her on her forehead.

"Ah, yes, this is the one. Great job, Lunarina. Now, I have to put the Snag Machine on," Tora whispered while he put the Snag Machine on his left arm. It fitted him perfectly and when the cost was clear, Tora and Lunarina tried to escape. Seeing that there was a cracked wall in front of them, they looked at each other with grins on their faces. Shortly after, there was a huge explosion. The cracked wall now had a giant hole there and Tora and Lunarina were seen running out of it. They dashed towards their scooter where Solarito was waiting for them patiently.

"Nice Secret Power, Lunarina," Tora commented while he got on his scooter.

"Thanks," Lunarina responded. Lunarina and Solarito hopped onto Tora's shoulders and Tora started up his scooter. Not wanting to wait for the engines to be warmed up and ready, Tora drove away in his scooter. They ran off scot-free and passed by a flying Skarmory who seemed to be guarding the hideout just now. Tora, Lunarina and Solarito recognized it immediately.

"Yo, Skarmory!" Solarito shouted to get the Skarmory's attention. "Tell that so-called great leader of yours that we quit Team Snagem!" The Skarmory glared at them as they continued with their escape.

"Grr… That incorrigible bunch! I knew Gonzap shouldn't have taken them in! I'd better tell him, even if he doesn't understand Pokémon speech!" Skarmory flew over to Gonzap's room, ready to signal to him what Tora and his Pokémon had done to the hideout and the Snag Machine.

**Outskirt Stand**

Meanwhile, Tora and his Pokémon were laughing happily about getting away with their 'crime'. They had reached this lonely gas station named Outskirt Stand and went inside a part of a train of some sort. Outskirt Stand was located somewhere far away from the urban life and Tora had intended to take a break before moving on to the city. Tora and his Pokémon took a seat and the waiter took their orders. They waited patiently for their food to arrive.

"OK, while waiting for the food to come, let's check out this sweet snagging device!" Tora told his Pokémon. "I can't wait to Snag a Pokémon and keep it as my own, for a change, rather than Snagging other Trainers' Pokémon and giving them to Gonzap. Since I'm out of Team Snagem, why can't I have my own freedom to Snag any Pokémon I want? Don't you agree?"

"Uh-huh!" Lunarina agreed as she smiled. Tora looked around the restaurant, hoping to find a decent Pokémon to Snag. However, his cheerful smile turned upside-down as quickly as lightning after finding out that there didn't seem to be any Pokémon to Snag. Lunarina and Solarito tried to comfort Tora but Tora sighed sadly. Their food came very soon after that and while they ate quietly, the news broadcast caught their attention.

"We bring you a breaking newsflash! The much feared Team Snagem has been found to have its hideout totally destroyed! None of our reporters has found any remaining Team Snagem members. This may be the last chance we are ever seeing Team Snagem but don't let your guard down, hamsters of Orre! Report to us immediately if you have seen any Team Snagem members as we have found out that the Snag Machine is missing. We fear that one particular hamster brave enough to infiltrate Team Snagem's hideout has stolen the Snag Machine to catch Trainers' Pokémon. Please contact us immediately if you have spotted the Snag Machine!" the newscaster broadcasted. Then, the screen went blank.

Tora, Lunarina and Solarito looked at each other and gave each other a smug smirk. Even though Tora didn't say anything about the matter, Lunarina and Solarito knew that Tora was very proud of the damage they had caused. After paying for the food, Tora returned Lunarina and Solarito to their PokéBalls and started to take off on his scooter when he was stopped by a hamster who had pink fur and wearing a striped leather coat.

"Hey, hey, wait! You seem like a decent Trainer! How would you like to battle me?" the hamster asked.

"A battle?" Then, Tora thought to himself, '_Hm… Maybe he's got some decent Pokémon with him… Ha! Such a foolish Trainer!_' "All right, I'm in!"

"Yiiaoohzza! Many thanks! Let's battle right now!"

**Battle Mode**

"Ow! Ow! I'm feeling all fired up! I cannot wait to battle now!" – Willie

Rider Willie would like to batlle!

Willie sent out Zigzagoon and Zigzagoon!

Tora sent out Lunarina and Solarito!

**Lunarina's Moveset **Lv. 32 (Girl)

Bite

Secret Power

Thief

Snatch

**Solarito's Moveset **Lv. 30 (Boy)

Confusion

Quick Attack

Return

Tail Whip

(Both) **Zigzagoon's Moveset **Lv. 12 (Boy)

Tackle

Headbutt

Growl

Tail Whip

"Lunarina, Bite attack! Solarito, Confusion!" – Tora

Lunarina used Bite on a Zigzagoon who fainted afterwards and Solarito used Confusion on the other Zigzagoon, knocking that one out as well.

Tora defeated Rider Willie!

"Aw, man! That's too quick a defeat!" – Willie

Tora got $240 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

While Willie continued whining about his loss, Tora decided to let Lunarina and Solarito stay outside of their PokéBalls till they reach the next town. They got on their scooter and Tora started it up, this time, waiting for the engines to get warmed up before going off.

'_Pathetic… Not even a passable Pokémon for me to Snag_,' Tora thought. Gripping onto the scooter handles tightly, Tora took one last glance at Outskirt Stand and the whining Willie before speeding off in the west of the desert.

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A/N: OMG, this chapter was shorter than I had expected…

A few things to point out here: One, this story will leave readers like you in double the suspense. Why? It's because one chapter is about the past and the next chapter will be in the preset, for example, this chapter. This chapter has the word 'past' in brackets, no? The next chapter will have the same chapter name as this one, except that 'past' in brackets will be replaced by the word 'present' in brackets as well. I am doing this to leave readers in suspense, even though this story isn't even in the Suspense genre. The 'past' chapters will be in the Colosseum storyline and the 'present' chapters will be in XD Gale of Darkness storyline.

Two, I know that it isn't possible to get female starters in Colosseum but I love female Umbreons a lot so I changed the Umbreon's gender to female. Yay for female Umbreons!

Three, this story will be freakishly long, meaning that it'll take up most of my time during the weekends. Updates will take a longer time as well due to last-minute planning and checking up on Colosseum. I also refer to guides from IGN and GameFAQs but I am not really sure whether that is sufficient for me… I guess I'll need to check my Pokémon homepage…

I **_so _**need to go complete XD so that I can replay it… I also need to catch the season finale of Loonatics Unleashed later on. It will only air today here in Singapore. Sad, isn't it? I dread the wait for season two… I WANNA WATCH FAMILY BUSINESS!!!

… Forget I said that…

At least there's a video clip of that episode somewhere. I watched it.


	2. Start of the Adventure: Present

Author's Note: Yay, I am baaaack! … OK, that was really unnecessary…

So, a few things I'd like to say here: remember the past and present thing? You have to keep those points in mind. Second, I am freakishly busy with school and CCA and tuition and stuff so if I don't update, these are the reasons. And last but not least, my good friend, **Umbreon-Azure**, whom I refer to as Umbreon-Blue, has posted her first poem on you-know-where. To tell those who don't know, 'azure' means 'blue', but I think that Umbreon-Blue sounds nicer. And I shall state once more just in case…

THIS IS HAMTARO/POKÉMON CROSSOVER, SO I DO NOT EXPECT ANY FLAMES FROM ANYONE……

OK, less talk, more typing!

Disclaimer: I do not own the ideas for the games, Cipher, Orre, Snagem, OK? I definitely do NOT own these. They are Nintendo and the Pokémon Company copyrighted. I only own Purifiers, Pure Powers, Pokémon nicknames, etc. This story is only BASED on the games.

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Chapter 2 – Start of the Adventure (Present)

**Present…**

Everything became dark and gloomy. There were barely any streetlights around and there weren't many Electric Pokémon around either. Stan had suggested using his powers to call upon his own Pokémon's help, but his mother was against it. Stan tried begging and pleading, but Siberia continued saying no to him, making him feel pretty useless without using his powers at all. No stars, no streetlights, no Electric Pokémon, no **_nothing_**. Stan pulled a long face. He **_hated _**the dark. No, to be more precise, he was **_afraid _**of the dark. Still in his Purifier image, Stan pulled himself together, literally, and followed Siberia to wherever she was heading to.

"Mom, are we there **_yet_**?" Stan groaned.

"Stanley, this is the tenth time you've asked me. No, we have NOT reached our destination yet," Siberia replied with a hint of frustration in her voice, but Stan never caught it.

"Mom, stop calling me 'Stanley'. You know how much I hate the sound of that. And besides, we've been walking for hours. We haven't had much food or much water. Can't we take a break and carry on after that?"

"Stan, how can you expect to be a good Purifier if you can't even handle this kind of adventurous torture?" Stan cringed at the sound of 'torture'.

"More like torturous adventure…" Stan muttered under his breath and luckily for him, Siberia was too engrossed in continuing her way that she didn't hear what Stan had said to himself, although it was a **_little _**loud.

For some surprising reason, Stan kept very quiet throughout the entire trip afterwards as he followed Siberia around. Road signs appeared every 100 miles and Stan was so sick of seeing so many of them he literally fainted when he reached the 48th one. Siberia had a **_hard _**time waking him up as there was no water nearby. It took Siberia a while to figure out that she decided to carry Stan on her back in order to carry on their journey to their destination. They had been walking for thousands and thousands of miles but they have not reached their destination: Orre. Siberia was very relieved that Orre was 100 more miles away and she was not about to give up just yet.

Squatting down slowly, Siberia outstretched her arms and picked Stan up gently. She placed him on her back and started walking towards Orre. Moving without any complaints whatsoever, Siberia finally reached Orre with Stan still unconscious on her back.

'_He must've been way too worn out… I should've known that Stan has been not that physically strong ever since he was born…_' Siberia thought as she placed Stan down on a bed in a spacey room in some building. Siberia had reached a place familiar to her and requested for two rooms, one for Stan, and the other one for herself. That room, in which Stan has been placed in, was one of the rooms she had requested and she had placed Stan down on the bed in the room very gently. She didn't make a sound, lest he woke up from his sleep. He had already woken up during their journey, but Siberia told him to sleep instead. Rubbing Stan's forehead, Siberia didn't say anything and went over to switch the lights off before heading towards her own room and went to sleep quickly due to fatigue as well.

**The next day…**

"Where… am I…?" Stan asked, his voice barely above a whisper, as he awoke from his slumber. He sat up, his body still aching from the previous day's long journey, and took a look at his new surroundings. It was a dully-painted room, painted in one of Stan's least favourite colour, which was gray, and there was a small desk for him at the edge of his new room. There were a few empty file holders against the wall on the desk and a bunch of blank paper lying around. Stan's bed was red and the pillow was white, which he was happy about. Just in front of his bed was a chest coated in red and white, like a PokéBall design. Stan went over to pry it open, surprised to see that it was already unlocked. He opened it and found some healing items hidden inside. He picked them up and placed them on his desk. Remembering his mother, Stan rushed out of his new room, his muscles still in pain.

Stan was utterly shocked to see a huge room just outside his. It was huge enough to place two king-sized beds and hamsters won't feel too packed in the room. Noticing some bookshelves, Stan went over and picked a random book to read.

"Oh, this is **_so _**cool!" Stan exclaimed excitedly, his eyes sparkling a little. Forgetting his aching muscles, Stan carried on reading. "I have no idea that Pokémon romance can be studied in this way! So, it looks like we Pokémon Trainers have a huge responsibility… Maybe there's some way I could find a way to hook Nightshade up with a suitable female Umbreon… Oh yeah! Nightshade!" Stan closed the book and placed it back in its original spot and looked for another book concerning Pokémon families. Successful in finding one, Stan flipped it open eagerly and read it immediately, taking in every bit of detailed information.

_Tap… Tap…_

Footsteps could be heard, the sound echoing through the spacey hallways and rooms, but Stan was too engrossed and interested in reading the books from the bookshelves to actually notice the echoed footsteps. The footsteps stopped abruptly, seeming to be watching Stan read. The owner of the footsteps was standing right behind Stan and Stan never noticed someone else's presence.

"Well, it seems that you enjoy reading, Stan," the hamster stated with a chuckle. Stan perked his ears and looked up from his book. Turning around, Stan was surprised, again, to see a hamster in a lab coat. The hamster had brown fur and a fur pattern like Maxwell's, except that his ears weren't as long as Maxwell's. They were like a normal hamster's ears. The hamster was wearing spectacles and his paws were folded behind his back. He was wearing leather black shoes that give out a tapping sound whenever he took a step and there was a branded watch around his left wrist, indicating that he was right-pawed.

"Hm? Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Stan asked out of curiosity.

"Ah, I have guessed correctly. Your fur really reminds me of a close friend of mine," the hamster stated. "I am Professor Krane, the Director of this Pokémon HQ Lab, and I am a close friend of your mother, Siberia."

"Uh… You know my Mom?"

"We go a long way… What, 10 years or more?"

"Who are you to her, her ex-boyfriend?"

"No, we are merely friends. I am not as privileged as your father."

"You know Dad?"

"Like I said, we are close friends. I've been helping your parents out on looking for information about Shadow Pokémon. If you're looking for Siberia, she's in the Director's Office."

**In the Director's Office…**

"Oh, Stan! I'm so glad you're fine!" Siberia exclaimed as she embraced Stan in a giant hug that seemed to choke Stan a little.

"Mom…! I'm… fine… but only after you let go of me…!"

"… Oh, right…" Siberia let go of Stan immediately, who was breathing heavily. Stan regained his composure and closed the door to that room. "My dear son, what are you doing?"

"Mom, I thought you told me to never tell anyone about Purifiers."

"Yeah…?"

"How did that Prof. Krane find out about me?"

"Why? Are you suspicious of him too?" Stan rolled his eyes and he rolled them back to their original place, meaning that he wanted Siberia to continue with what she was saying, "When we first met, your father was suspicious of him as well but look how we turned out! We've been such good friends till now."

"… Please evaluate…"

"It's… a long story… I'll tell you along the way. For now, concentrate on your ability to use your powers. Since Tora isn't here with us now…" Siberia stopped and noticed that Stan's ears have folded downwards. He was staring at her with a sad stare. Siberia forced herself to continue, "I guess **_I'll _**have to teach you myself…"

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A/N: Short chapter, I know. It's freakishly short, isn't it? Well, the next chapter in the present will be longer as it'll be talking about Stan's training of his powers. The next chapter in past will be about Tora meeting a certain female hamster and also gaining control over his own Pure Powers, even though he claims that he never had them. Find out more on the next chapters of **Life in Orre, Past or Present**!

Oh, yes, PLEASE review **Umbreon-Azure**'s poem anonymously, unless you have an account and would like to submit a signed review. The next chapter's update will be **_looooooong_**… (long)

REVIEW while I go and play more XD…


	3. Training: Past

Author's Note: Hi hi again! This chapter took me a day to plan because it needed very very careful planning and organisation. I'm sorry that I didn't update this story yesterday and updated my profile instead. I was also reviewing Umbreon-Azure's poem of a Shiny Umbreon on you-know-what website. Please review! I've already reviewed her poem and I hope you will, too!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for Pokémon nicknames, my made-up characters, etc. This is only based on the Pokémon Gamecube games and I am still looking for Colosseum. I guess they're really sold out. Either that or the games shops in my country just don't have the game at all. Sad… Guess I'll just look for Shadow the Hedgehog.

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Chapter 3 – Training (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Tora and his Pokémon rode the scooter for hours under the hot, blazing sun. The scooter took them across many parts of the desert area, but the sand sometimes got in their way. The sand was getting deeper and deeper and Tora was quite worried that the scooter wouldn't be able to take them anywhere anymore after a while. The sand soon became as deep as the sea and Tora's scooter tires were about to get stuck in the ever so deep desert sand. Then, Tora came to a stop. He pondered about their situation they were in.

'_If I go west, there could be nothing but sand… If I go east, it may get me nowhere, too… Going north wouldn't help either. I can't see anything else but sand there… And needless to say, going south would only get me back to that lonely gas station and the thrashed hideout… What should I do?_' Tora was in a confused state of mind. He was very troubled. He had no idea where to head off to. One wrong move and it could mean the end for Tora and his Pokémon. Then, an idea struck him!

"I got it! Solarito, could you try using your tail to sense any particular air currents?" Tora suggested to Solarito. Solarito agreed to do so straight away and he closed his eyes, concentrating his psychic power on his tail. It tilted from left to right, then back to left. It tilted to the north and to the south and as it trembled all of a sudden, it became upright, pointing at the sky. Solarito opened his energetic purple eyes and looked at Tora.

"I sense something that's filled with life up in the north, Tora!"

"The north, you say? Then that's where we'll be heading to! Thanks, Solarito!"

"Don't be too sure, Tora. You may be thanking my brother for causing us to get into trouble later on," Lunarina muttered under her breath while sitting on the sand, waiting patiently for Tora and her brother to be done talking. Tora got on the scooter and Solarito and Lunarina hopped onto his shoulders and Tora started his scooter as they headed towards the north of the desert. Not too long after that, they finally arrived at a lush, oasis-like city that was filled with life, just as Solarito described!

"… Am I seeing a mirage or something?" Tora asked his Pokémon.

"No, unbelievably, you're not. We see it too, which means that for once, my brother was using his brain rather than his brawn," Lunarina replied sarcastically.

"Hey, what do **_you _**mean by that?!" Solarito exclaimed, feeling rather hurt. Lunarina never talked back at him and just started at the gorgeous city blankly.

This lush, oasis-like city was literally full of life. It was surrounded by fresh, clean water and a gorgeous fountain was spraying water in the middle of this city. There were many houses and a Pokémon Center and it seemed that many hamsters lived here as well. Tora spotted a female hamster coming up to them.

"Welcome to Phenac City!" the female hamster welcomed. "We have a Pokémon Center for you to rest your Pokémon as well as our pride and joy, out very own Phenac Stadium, in which Trainers in Orre gather to battle. In addition, we have a PokéMart for Trainers to buy their daily needs!" the female hamster bowed as a formality. "Please enjoy your stay here in Phenac!" She then walked away, leaving Tora to daydream. No one among them spoke, not even the Pokémon.

"… She's **_hot_**," Tora stated, breaking the unusual silence among them. Solarito sighed while Lunarina rolled her eyes.

'_So typical of our flirtatious Tora to say that…_' Solarito thought to himself, being very careful not to accidentally use his psychic telepathy.

"Tora, you say that to every girl we've met, even some of out ex-teammates who are girls. Don't you know the reason why they quit Team Snagem after meeting you?" Lunarina sighed. Her rings weren't visible anymore and, for once, her tail shot up straight.

"Actually, no, I don't. Is it because they needed time to doll themselves up and ask me out on a date?!" Tora asked ecstatically. Lunarina and Solarito fell down, anime style. Lunarina gave Tora a 'so-typical-of-you-and-I-want-to-punish-you-for-being-so-naïve' look, as well as the look of attacking him with a Secret Power to get him to his senses, so Tora just shrugged it off and stopped saying anything. Whilst Tora and his Pokémon regained their composure, got off their scooter and parked it somewhere, they heard a muffled scream come from nowhere.

"Uh… What was **_that_**?" Solarito asked.

"How should **_I _**know? **_You're _**the **_Psychic _**one," Lunarina replied, emphasizing on many words. Solarito gave her a glare but Lunarina just glared back at him, which was even more intimidating since she was a Dark type and was the older sibling. Before a fight broke out between them, Tora returned them to their Balls and went around Phenac to look for the source of that scream. Then, he spotted two weird-looking guys holding a bag that was… moving?!

"Hey, I thought you tied her up!" the guy with goggles and yellow mixed with red fur yelled to the other guy who seemed to be his partner.

"I did! I even gagged her!" the other one replied just as loudly. He was wearing a hat and spectacles. He also had reddish pink fur. "I don't understand how she can still move AND scream!"

"Hey!" Before the first one replied, he got cut off by Tora. "You two, with the bag! I don't know what you're up to, but I don't think you're going anywhere with that moving bag of yours!"

"Oh, yeah? Let's see what you got, then!" the second guy exclaimed, going up to Tora and dropping the bag, seeming to be challenging Tora to a battle.

**Battle Mode**

"Go mind your own business, kid!" – Folly

"Who're you calling 'kid' around here? I ain't any kid to you!" - Tora

Weird Guy Folly would like to battle!

Folly sent out Whismur and Whismur!

Tora sent out Lunarina and Solarito!

**Lunarina's Moveset **Lv. 32 (Girl)

Bite

Secret Power

Thief

Snatch

**Solarito's Moveset **Lv. 30 (Boy)

Confusion

Quick Attack

Return

Tail Whip

(Both) **Whismur's Moveset **Lv. 25 (Boy)

Pound

Uproar

Growl

Supersonic

"Lunarina, Bite! Solarito, Confusion!" – Tora

Lunarina used Bite and Solarito used Confusion on both Whismurs. The Whismurs didn't stand a chance against them and fainted!

Tora defeated Weird Guy Folly!

"What the…?" – Folly

Tora got $500 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

"C-c-come on, Trudly! Let's get going already!" Folly stuttered to his partner who was called Trudly.

"R-right!" Trudly replied, just as nervous. The twosome then fled, leaving the bag behind. Tora let his Pokémon stay out of their Balls temporarily and picked up the bag, discovering it to be real heavy. He then placed it down.

"Oof! That thing is heavy!" Tora complained, rubbing his paw. "It must be a really good Pokémon for me to steal in there! Solarito, use your Confusion to open it up!"

"Right away!" Solarito used his Confusion to open the bag up, wondering why Tora couldn't just untie the bag. Tora went closer to see what was in the bag and was shocked to find…

… a girl. She was a girl with bright yellow fur and tiger stripes that are a very light shade of brown, almost seeming orange. Her tail is tied up with a ribbon and fur sticks out of it. She was wearing a pair of baby blue shades.

"Uh…" Tora, Lunarina and Solarito said with sweat drops on their heads.

"… Well?" the girl asked, muffled.

"Uh… Huh?" Tora replied.

"Faren't fyou moing to untoy me?!"

"Uh… What?"

"I think she meant, 'aren't you going to untie me?!', Tora," stated Lunarina.

"Oh, uh… right…" Tora stated while he went to untie the girl and tossed away her gag. The girl stood up, getting herself out of the bag. She picked up the empty bag and tossed it aside.

"Ugh… I thought I was a goner… Thanks for rescuing me," she said to Tora.

"Heh. No problem. You know, you should be more careful about going out alone. You **_are _**a girl, after all."

"Are you insulting me?!"

"Whoa, is **_that _**how you treat your savior? If I had known, I would've left you alone in that stupid thing," Tora replied coolly, pointing at the tossed bag.

"Well then, why didn't you?"

"I thought you were a valuable Pokémon." The girl fell down, anime style. She got up with an anger vein popping out from her head, anime style.

"Do I **_look _**like a Pokémon to you?!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, lil' lady! I don't mean any harm!"

"…" the girl didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence, she sighed and looked at Tora. "No matter what, I'm indebted to you. Thanks for saving me, mister… Um, mister…?"

"Uh… No 'mister', please. I'm not that old yet. You can just call me Tora."

"Thanks for saving me, Tora. I owe you one," the girl replied coolly, giving Tora a thumb-up. This made Tora blush but he tried to hide it. Tora was too busy blushing to reply. His mind was racing as quickly as his heart was. He couldn't help but smile as he felt a new feeling overwhelming him. Noticing what feeling he was experiencing, he shook it off and tried to change the subject.

"S-so, uh… UH… W-why were you taken by those two weird-looking guys?" Tora asked, relieved to be able to find a different subject to talk about as he regained his 'radical' composure and wild image.

"Sigh… I don't know whether I should tell you this, but…" the girl sighed and looked around Phenac. She found a quiet corner and decided to tell Tora the whole story there as she didn't want anyone to listen to their conversation. She grabbed Tora's arm, making him blush heavily once again, this time making Tora forget all about his Pokémon completely! Not wanting to feel neglected, Lunarina and Solarito ran after them to the remote spot. As the girl let go of Tora's arm, Tora stopped blushing when he realized that she seemed scared.

"Hey… You OK?" he asked out of concern.

"I am now, but I won't be later… I have something to tell you and you seem to be the only one I can trust now!"

"… Sure. OK, you can tell me."

"I… Sigh… Have you ever heard about Shadow Pokémon?"

"Yeah. Are they Pokémon whose hearts are artificially sealed away by evil organizations?"

"Yes! I'm amazed that you know that! You know they look like ordinary Pokémon, right? You don't see anything weird about them, do you?"

"Uh… Not exactly…"

"… See? **_That's _**the problem…" Tora became confused and so did Lunarina and Solarito. The girl continued, "My parents told me that I'm not like any other normal Trainer because I wasn't born into a normal family. My family members are all Purifiers and… **_I _**am, too." Tora gasped sharply, which startled the girl.

"**_You're _**a Purifier?" the girl nodded. "But… you're a girl!"

"You didn't have to put it that way, Tora…" the girl replied, feeling rather hurt.

"I'm…! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"It's OK. I understand. I'm not exactly a Purifier anyway. I'm only able to talk to Pokémon and read their minds. I can't use any other powers beyond that besides the ability to see the Shadow Pokémon's shadowy aura… And those thugs are coming after me because of my ability to see the shadowy aura! I'm like a threat to them! I don't know what I'd do when I get taken to their HQ……"

"I… I didn't realize that…" Tora muttered to himself very softly, making sure that the girl didn't hear it. The girl looked down and saw Lunarina and Solarito rubbing their cheeks against her legs. She picked them up and cuddled them into her arms and she finally smiled.

"Aww… How cute! You've raised them well! You're such a good Pokémon Trainer!"

"I…! Uh…!" Tora blushed very heavily and couldn't say anything else other than that. The girl continued hugging Lunarina and Solarito, not seeming to notice how red Tora had gone. "Ahem!" this caught their attention. "Since you say that… do you mind that **_I'll _**be your bodyguard? I can protect you from those goons with Lunarina and Solarito by my side! We'll prevent you from getting hurt and it's for free! What's better, we can protect you 24/7 around the clock! What do you say, miss?"

"Hm… I **_could _**use some protection… All right! You've got yourself a lifelong partner!"

"Um…! L-l-l-lifelong…?" Tora went as red as an apple. He knew that she didn't mean **_that _**kind of lifelong partner, but still, it made him blush even more than before. Lunarina and Solarito giggled among themselves, seeing that their owner was happily in love with the girl.

"By the way…" the girl started, getting Tora out of his daze. "Only Purifiers can talk to Pokémon… I noticed the way you and your Pokémon communicate… Are you a Purifier, too?"

"Huh?! No way! Sure, I can talk to Lunarina and Solarito, as well as other Pokémon, but that can't make me a Purifier!"

"But I can sense it from you, Tora. I'm certain that you **_are _**a Purifier. It's just that I can feel that your powers aren't fully developed yet. You may say that you aren't, but it's only because you haven't had the thought of tapping into your power."

"Hm… But how can I have special powers? I was born into a normal family, not a Purifier family. There can't be any reason to this, lil' lady. Let it go, why don't ya?"

"But…"

"No matter what you claim, I will deny, lil' lady."

"… Fine. I wash my paws out of this matter for now, but I would appreciate it if you could stop calling me 'lil' lady'. I have a name, you know."

"Oh, really? Mind telling me what it is? Ooh, wait! Let's start over!" Tora motioned for his Pokémon to come before continuing, "This here Umbreon and Espeon siblings are Lunarina and Solarito. They've been with me for a long time. They're mighty powerful and you have to be careful when you pat them; they can bite you, especially Lunarina. Despite that, they can be lifelong friends and partners who'll always be there for you. Meet my Lunarina and Solarito!"

"They have such cute names, Tora!" the girl smiled sweetly. "Theirs are as cute as yours!"

"Oh, is that so…?" Tora whispered, looking away, feeling rather embarrassed. His cheeks became a nice shade of red and for the first time, she noticed Tora's blush and giggled sweetly, blushing heavily herself. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, I totally forgot!" she regained her composure and stopped blushing. Clearing her throat, she continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you and your Pokémon, Tora. I feel much honored to be able to get the chance to know you. My name is Siberia."

"Siberia… That's such a pretty name… It's as beautiful as you are…" Tora said dreamily, looking like a drunken hamster. Siberia could've sworn that she blushed even more heavily than Tora did and placed her paws on her cheeks to hide away the blush, but it just spread all over her face and her paws were too small to hide every single bit of blush on her face. Tora himself was too shy to say anything.

"So… Want to head to the Pokémon Center?" Siberia suggested.

"I'd be delighted to," Tora replied. Thought they felt too shy to get the initiative to hold each other's paws, they felt very privileged to get to know each other. And for once, Lunarina and Solarito didn't feel jealous as they followed their owner and their new traveling partner to the Pokémon Center that was just straight ahead.

**Many days later…**

"Yeah-ha! That's the spirit, Lunarina! Way to go!" Tora exclaimed happily. He was in the middle of a Trainer battle, hoping that more battles could toughen up his Pokémon a bit before they continue on their way with Siberia. His strategy worked; both Lunarina and Solarito have shown a mark improvement on their battling power. Lunarina was still the strongest but Solarito didn't feel discouraged. He continued to work harder and so did Lunarina. "That's the 6th Trainer we've beaten these few days! And to be frank, the battles seem to get easier and easier with every battle! Don't you think so too, Siberia?"

"Easy or challenging, you still battle. To me, it's not much of a difference. If the battles here were a lot more challenging, I bet your Pokémon would be in tip-top shape by now, but at the rate we're going, I think you need more training before you actually meet a tough challenger."

"Way to bust the confidence…" Tora stated glumly as he rubbed the floor with one of his fingers. Suddenly, a loud voice boomed out to them.

"Hey! You! Tora!"

"Huh? Who's that?" Tora asked, turning around. He noticed three familiar faces coming up to him and they were all wearing the same familiar red outfit. That was an outfit that Tora recognized so well…

It was Team Snagem's outfit…

"Who are you? And how do you know Tora?" Siberia asked suspiciously. Tora, Lunarina and Solarito became extremely nervous, hoping that Wakin and their fellow ex-teammates wouldn't tell, but unfortunately, they did.

"We used to be Tora's teammates but lately, he betrayed our trust," Wakin stated gruffly. "**_He _**blew up our hideout and took away our last remaining Snag Machine! We **_are _**Team Snagem, after all, and as the name implies, we Snag Pokémon but we can't do that anymore, seeing that our so-called good buddy or ours here stole the Snag Machine! See? He's wearing the Snag Machine on his left arm right now!"

"Tora… Is this true? Are you really a Team Snagem member?" Siberia asked him with tears in her eyes. Tora noticed it and deep in his heart, he didn't want to hurt her.

"I **_used _**to be…" Tora replied coldly. It wasn't because he wanted to hurt Siberia's feelings, but it was because he was mad at Wakin. Not wanting to hear anything from Siberia anymore, Tora gained the courage to walk up to Wakin and said, "Hey, Wakin! Haven't you had enough of me? I've quit Team Snagem! Why are you still stalking me, then?"

"It's simple, you traitor. I want payback! And this time, this ain't any normal Team Snagem training session! I'm here because of what you did, which was stealing our prized Snag Machine and now… **_I'll _**be taking it **_from _**you, Tora! Prepare to lose!"

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A/N: OMG, I cannot believe this. This is the longest chapter I have ever written! There are many points to point out here but I'll get to them later. Right now, I have something important to announce: I am going to start the romance stuff in the Colosseum storyline, which are the 'past' chapters. The XD Gale of Darkness storyline, a.k.a. the 'present' chapters, will not have much romance in them… yet.

Next chapter: Stan undergoes harsh Purifier training in order to gain full control over his powers, but does he really need the training? Find out in the next chapter!

For those who don't know, shades are sunglasses.

This is just an expression, seeing that Purifiers' hearts can't beat that fast. I only use this to express feeling of love.

Sounds familiar? Yes! This scene is from Clubhouse Intruders, a Hamtaro episode that features Stan! This happens near the ending. You **_can't _**miss it. I'm telling you, you can't. If you've missed it, then that means you didn't pay attention. It happened when Boss told Stan to fill in the tunnels while the Hams went to eat. Stan dropped his maracas and he did this action.

Is that clear? Yes? Good.


	4. Training: Present

Author's Note: Ow, I've got leg pain. Yet, I feel joyous! I know, I am **_weird_**… I cannot believe I actually cried after physical training. I don't know what came over me. I just felt like it. Maybe it was because I have freakishly low stamina. Oh well, I am still hyper! Yay!

Oh yes, I have no idea what in the name of hell happened to the asterisks in the previous chapter. It looks so confusing and messed up! OMG… That is so weird! I thought the asterisks would show up but they didn't. They were supposed to show up but maybe FF doesn't allow that…?

Disclaimer: You know what I own and what I don't own but this chapter was inspired by the physical training I went through. A huge thank-you to the physical training! I look forward to having more and more training so I have more inspiration to write! Yay!

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Chapter 4 – Training (Present)

**Present…**

"Mom, are you OK?" Stan asked, his voice barely a whisper. Siberia opened her eyes slowly and her troubled look stayed. Siberia looked horrible. Her fur was messy due to the tossing and turning she did while sleeping and she appeared listless and tired. Siberia could give you an impression that she had not been sleeping well at all. "Mom, are you OK?" Stan asked again, his voice still soft and barely above a whisper, but now with more concern and worry in his voice. Siberia looked at her son and forced a smile, her eyes half-open. She patted Stan on his head and rubbed his smooth fur.

"It was just a nightmare, Stan. I'm alright. You can go back to sleep now," Siberia whispered back, her voice sounding tired and… scared?

"… OK, Mom…" Stan whispered as he stood up and went towards the door. "If you say so…" was all Stan said before he went out and closed the door to Siberia's room. Stan walked back towards his own room and managed to get some sleep, but Stan slept with much worry. Siberia herself couldn't sleep well and for that entire night, she was wide awake, not wanting to go back to sleep lest she got another nightmare… about Tora.

**The next morning…**

Stan yawned and stretched his body to get ready for a new day. He slipped out of bed and tidied up his room before going over to Siberia's room to make sure that she had gotten enough sleep, but Stan couldn't find her anywhere in her room. Figuring that Siberia had already gone down for breakfast, Stan shrugged it off and went down for breakfast as well. He still felt worried but hid his anxiety with a wide, toothy grin and snatched a randomly placed sunflower seed on the food table and started nibbling the seed. He looked around for his mother but she was nowhere in sight.

"Uh… Prof. Krane?"

"Yes, Stan, what is it?"

"Have you seen my Mom anywhere?"

"Siberia? No? I haven't."

"Oh, OK then," Stan stated monotonously before finishing his so-called breakfast. He went outside of the Pokémon HQ Lab to take in some fresh air, thinking that a little morning breeze would do him some good. While admiring the flowering trees near the Pokémon HQ Lab, Stan found Siberia. She was very dazed and seeming very troubled. She was looking at her reflection shown on the water puddle formed during last night's storm. She was very near where Stan was and Stan went over to greet her, relieved to know that his mother was fine. At least, that's what **_he _**thought… "Hey, Mom, what're you doing out here?"

"Oh, it's you, Stan." Siberia shook her head for a moment. "Nah, it's nothing. I just wanted… some time to think things through, that's all."

"What are you thinking about, Mom? Is it about… **_Dad_**?" Stan whimpered at the last word. Siberia didn't flinch. She just seemed normal.

"You can put it that way. I don't wish to talk about it, though."

"Sure, Mom. I don't feel like talking about that either…"

"But, Stan, I need to tell you something important."

"What is it, Mom?" Siberia opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Noticing that she couldn't force herself to say it, she closed her mouth and hesitated for a while before she was ready to tell Stan what she needed to tell him.

"Stan, I'm going to start your training today. Meet me right here after lunch, you hear me? Yes? Good," Siberia stated quickly. She rushed back into the Pokémon HQ Lab, seeming to be in a hurry. Stan looked after her with confusion. Although he had no idea what just happened, Stan thought nothing of it and went on admiring the flowering trees, seeing some occasional Sentret and Nincada along the way.

**After lunch…**

Stan had a lot of seeds during lunch. He was all excited about the training, hoping that it would be a very fun training session. Stan got very hyper and practically rushed through his lunch. It was a miracle that he didn't get gastric pain.

"Stan, hurry! You're almost late for your training!"

"OK, Mom! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Stan exclaimed as he ran towards Siberia with enthusiasm.

"Stan, next time we have training sessions like this, I hope that you won't be late."

"OK, Mom."

"Also, I hope that you won't rush through your lunch. You **_know _**you have a weak stomach."

"OK, Mom."

"Lastly, you are allowed to use your powers but only during training sessions like this. In any other time, you are strictly prohibited from using your powers. Understood?"

"OK, Mom."

"And stop saying 'OK, Mom'. That way, how can I know that you're paying attention? Is that clear?"

"OK, Mom."

"Oh, for Pete's sake, I… Never mind. Let's just start this training right now."

**Training…**

Stan was still standing tall with pride. OK, maybe not with pride. The point is, he's still standing and alive. Siberia had made him go through a lot of physical training such as sit-ups, push-ups and training like those. Stan hadn't the faintest idea how this kind of training would help him in controlling his powers totally but he went on with it. As he continued training, he slowly came to a realisation that he had been put through all that training because Siberia wanted him to build up his stamina so that he would be able to travel for further distances without getting worn out, or feeling tired.

Though Stan was already quite tired out, he went on with the training without any complaints. Siberia was very impressed with how fit Stan was and how long he was able to hold out for. However, that impression would not be lasting for long…

"Ah!" Stan fell to the ground all of a sudden. For some reason, Stan felt extraordinarily tired after that hour's worth of training. Breathing heavily, Stan got up, implying that he was fine and he wanted to continue but he couldn't hold out for much longer. As soon as Stan got up from where he had fallen, he fell down again, but this time, Stan was too tired to get up.

"Stan, have you the strength to carry on?"

"Yeah, I suppose so." Stan tried to get up but wound up falling down again. He felt very tired but he wasn't in pain. "Ugh… Mom, I feel like as if my feet are as soft and fragile as jelly…"

"Do you feel numb?"

"No, just soft."

"You're worn out. I don't think you should carry on anymore. We'll resume tomorrow, OK, Stan?"

"OK, Mom. Thanks," Stan got up with help from his Pokémon whom he had with during his training and Stan had no intention to send them back to his old home. Nightshade and Danielle lifted Stan's legs up while Stan's Miltank lifted his body up. They made their way back to Stan's room, leaving Siberia to ponder about Stan's performance.

'_That's weird… Stan just fell with no reason. Even if he was tired, he should be able to carry on… Could it be…? Could it be that Stan has inherited Tora's condition?!_' Siberia thought worriedly. She rushed into Stan's room to check up on him, hoping that Stan was alright. Like the usual stubborn Stan he is, Stan insisted that he was fine, even though his feet were a little bit tired. Stretching his leg muscles helped out a whole lot and Stan felt better already but Siberia prevented him from training anymore. She did not want Stan to get hurt again so she resumed training the next day.

**The next day…**

Stan hopped around, dodging every missile launched towards him. He jumped up above one and moved away when another was coming towards him while he was suspended in mid-air. After the missile training, Stan went for martial arts training, hitting a straw hamster with a pole about his height. Holding up the pole, Stan struck the straw hamster with it. Stan looked like a pro at it, too. With one final blow, Stan hit the straw hamster on the straw head and thus, causing the straw to fall apart.

'_No… It's not possible. Ah ha ha… Uh… I guess Stan was just tired yesterday, yeah, that's all. It's not Tora's condition… Yeah, it's just…_' Siberia's chain of thoughts got quickly broken by Stan's falling to the ground once again. Stan got up easily but he just submitted to falling down again. Siberia gasped and thought, '_It **is**! It **is **Tora's condition! This can't be happening…!_' Siberia went to help Stan up and carried him to his room. Stan was so tired he couldn't open his eyes, making it look like as if he was asleep but he wasn't. He seemed unconscious but he was still awake, so he was semi-conscious. Stan suddenly seemed to be in pain and exhaustion. He moaned in pain as his body was engulfed in a silvery white aura. After the aura went away, Stan was revealed to be in his Purifier form, except that his stripes had turned jet-black. Siberia couldn't help but burst into tears due to shock of the horrible realisation.

'_No… If Stan has really gotten that condition, then that means that…!_' Siberia shook off that horrendous thought and covered Stan's blanket over him. Siberia settled down on a chair and rubbed her temples with her paws. _'No, I can't keep on deceiving myself about this… Tora had contracted this disease before, and now Stan, too, has become a victim of the illness… But to be a hundred percent sure, I'll go get a doctor who specializes in Purifiers' illnesses…_' Siberia got up from her seat and ran out of the door, closing it along the way. She was going to get a doctor to save Stan, no matter what happened.

But, why…?

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A/N: Ah-ha! The part where Stan had his first training session was a little like what I had done during physical training. Seriously, it was fun yet tiring. Aren't all fun things tiring, too? I know they are, but I have no idea why. Yes, we did push-ups and sit-ups and even though I cried for no apparent reason (but I suspect that it was because I was too tired and no stamina to carry on), physical training is really fun.

The physical training I went through hours ago inspired me to write this part of the chapter. Of course it was exaggerated! I still haven't built up my stamina to do **_that _**much in this part of the story! I can't wait for more physical training! You wanna know why it's fun? Well, it's because it tells me my strengths and weaknesses physically. I found out that I still needed to build up my stamina… Maybe I should go running around the apartment…?

Next chapter: Tora has shown many weird symptoms. Doctors can't seem to do anything for him and this happened after his battle with Wakin. Does this have anything to do with Team Snagem or is it an incurable Purifier disease? What if it's neither? What would Siberia do?

Now, review to your heart's content! I won't update this story so soon tomorrow coz I will be posting belated Valentine's Day stories of my top favourite couples. Also, I intend to delete some redundant stuff in my profile and change it to the Couples Proof section.

Oh well, I wish everyone here a happy New Year ahead of you!


	5. Strange Disease: Past

Author's Note: Happy New Year, people! I am back with another of my updates! I thought that I wouldn't be able to update today but since I am free and quite bored, I shall update! Nothing much to say, except that instead of leg pain, I now have arm pain. The leg pain's gone for good but for some reason, my arms hurt. Nevertheless, I still love the physical training I went through! Once again, a very happy New Year to every one of you out there!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for Pokémon nicknames, Purifiers, Pure Powers, etc. You already know what I own and what I don't own and this story is based on the Pokémon Gamecube games. I own the disease here too, but that doesn't make me the one who really got the disease! This disease is only fictional, get it? You wanna use the disease, ask for my permission. I usually let people use what I own anyway but only if the story idea is credible.

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Chapter 5 – Strange Disease (Past)

**10 years ago…**

**Battle Mode**

"I'm going to take that Snag Machine back, Tora! Don't think you can stop me!" – Wakin

Team Snagem Wakin would like to battle!

Wakin sent out Corphish and Koffing!

Tora sent out Lunarina and Solarito!

**Corphish's Moveset **Lv. 25 (Boy)

Bubble

Vicegrip

Bubblebeam

Knock Off

**Koffing's Moveset **Lv. 25 (Boy)

Selfdestruct

Smog

Sludge

Tackle

**Lunarina's Moveset **Lv. 36 (Girl)

Bite

Faint Attack

Snatch

Thief

**Solarito's Moveset **Lv.34 (Boy)

Confusion

Quick Attack

Swift

Tail Whip

"Lunarina, Faint Attack on Corphish! Solarito, use your Confusion on Koffing!" – Tora

Lunarina charged up her Faint Attack, disappeared from sight and reappeared while striking her Faint Attack on Corphish, which totally knocked the Corphish out! Solarito used Confusion on Koffing and since it was super effective, Koffing fainted as well.

Tora defeated Team Snagem Wakin!

"Gasp! I didn't even get a chance to attack! Oh, no!" – Wakin

Tora got $670 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

"Oh my goodness! This can**_not _**be happening to me! Gonzap's going to pound me for this! Quick! Let's get out of here!" Wakin shouted to his two other teammates.

"But, Wakin sir, what about the Snag Machine?" One of Wakin's teammates asked.

"I don't care about that now! We have to get away from here before Gonzap finds out that we have failed! C'mon! Move it, will ya?" Wakin hurried his teammates. They nodded in agreement and ran off like what cowards usually do. Tora glared after them and turned around, only to face a very angry and confused Siberia. She placed her hands on her hips, tapping her left foot impatiently, demanding to get an answer from Tora.

"Uh… Hi, Siberia?" Tora stated nervously.

"Don't 'Hi, Siberia' me, Tora. All I want is an explanation coming from you."

"Wh… What kind of explanation do you have in mind?"

"Any kind to explain to me what in the world is going on here! How are you associated with those goons? Why are they after you? Why do they want your Snag Machine, whatever that is? Tell me, Tora. Please, explain to me!" Siberia stated worriedly.

"I… We…" Tora looked around nervously, his eyes darting across Phenac City. Many pairs of eyes belonging to many hamsters were staring straight at him like as if he were a cat. "Siberia, I don't think this is the suitable place for us to have this talk. Can't we go to a different place? Somewhere quiet and won't attract any attention at all? **_Ever_**?" Tora asked, practically begging Siberia. Siberia looked at him straight in the eye and noticed the hurt and despair in them. She sighed regrettably, and agreed.

**Somewhere else…**

"Uh… Tora? Why'd you drag me to the alley?"

"You want an explanation?" Siberia nodded. "Well, then, you're going to get one. You see… I was a member of Team Snagem, you know, those goons that were after you? Yeah, they are members of Team Snagem too. When I first came to Orre, I didn't know where to go or who I should turn to. It was Team Snagem's leader, Gonzap, who helped me during that scary time period. I didn't have any Pokémon with me at that time… No one except Gonzap helped me. Soon, he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. I learnt how to Snag a Pokémon properly and I found a pair of Eevee siblings – Lunarina and Solarito here – and Gonzap agreed to let me keep them since I had no Pokémon. After not much time, I became the best Snagger on the entire team, as well as one of the best Trainers, Gonzap being the best…" Tora sighed before he continued, "Things went pretty well, until something strange happened to me. It was something that I won't ever forget…" Tora trembled.

"What? What was it?"

"I… One day, Gonzap discovered my ability to talk to Pokémon. He demanded to know how I got the power but I told him that I couldn't remember. All I told him was that I knew that I was able to talk to Pokémon for quite some time already. That same day, all of the Snagem members queued up for me to understand what their Pokémon were saying. I'll never forget that terrifying experience… To have so many hamsters queuing up and to have that many Pokémon to talk to, it's not just terrifying. It was too scary to be true… Ever since then, I've always wanted to find out why I have this ability… That was the reason why I wanted to quit Team Snagem. I **_have _**to find out about my past. I **_have _**to! My only lead was my last fragmented memory of my past and that was the fact that my parents are here in Orre somewhere and to find out the true meaning of my past… I am now trying to look for them…"

"Tora… I… I never knew…"

"I didn't want you to know, just in case that you would get hurt by Team Snagem. I'm sorry I hid it from you, Siberia…"

"No, Tora, you don't have to apologize. **_I _**should be the one apologizing and…" Siberia looked at Tora with a weird look.

"Uh… Siberia? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Tora… You don't look so good…"

Indeed. Tora was very pale. His usual dark orange fur turned a sickly shade of light orange and his black tiger stripes turned gray. Tora not only appeared pale, but he looked dull and listless as well. All of a sudden, Tora became short of breath. Struggling to keep awake and not fall unconscious, Tora took long, big breaths but it was not helping at all. Tora fell to the ground before his entire world turned black.

"Tora!"

**Later, at the Pokémon Center…**

Lunarina and Solarito had helped Siberia carry Tora up to the top floor of the Pokémon Center, which was the bedroom floor for Trainers and Pokémon. Siberia laid Tora on a bed and rushed out of the Pokémon Center to look for a doctor who would be able to help Tora's condition. She managed to find one but all he could say was, "I have never seen such an illness. It might be a new one. You have to keep him away from the other hamsters and Pokémon in case an epidemic happens. I'm sorry, but I can't help you." Siberia tried her best to find even more doctors and she even demanded better ones, you know, those professional doctors and even surgeons, but every single one of them said the same thing, "I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

Those words stayed in Siberia's mind like the smell of 4 rotten eggs in a refrigerator. She couldn't get them out of her mind; they just stuck to her like glue. Siberia never stopped worrying and caring for Tora that entire week. Tora would be engulfed in a silvery white aura and wouldn't stop complaining of headaches and tiredness. Siberia thought that all of that was exaggerated but believed him because of all of what the doctors told her. Tora's condition worsened day by day and Siberia's concern grew with every day, too. Tora wouldn't stop fainting and throwing up. Lunarina and Solarito themselves were completely unwilling to return to their PokéBalls just so that they could spend some quality time with their owner and take care of him just like how he had taken care of them.

One fateful day, Tora's illness would become at its **_worst _**condition if he didn't get help, resulting in a terrible, tragic **_death…_**

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A/N: Short chapter, I know. That's how it'll be like. I just love leaving budding readers in suspense. I am not updating tomorrow because I am going to visit my relatives for Chinese New Year. I may not update on Tuesday either, because I'm going over to a friend's house and we'll be going ice-skating. That is, **_if _**my muscle pain recovers…

Next chapter: Stan's illness is confirmed to be Tora's illness, which all doctors claim is incurable. Until Siberia manages to find a true professional Purifier doctor, Stan's life will be in as much danger as Tora's was. Meanwhile, how will Stan cope with his illness as well as the fact that Shadow Pokémon have appeared once more? Find out in the next chapter!


	6. Strange Disease: Present

Author's Note: I apologise for lack of updates, but I fell sick over the weekends and now I can't stop coughing. It's so coincidental. I was about to write up about Stan's illness and I got sick myself. Weird! Oh yeah, about the Azurill baby and Azumarill mother scene later on, it's there because I think the scene shows how serious the illness is and how scared the babies are. It also adds a bit of suspense and tone of seriousness about the matter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for the disease, Pokémon nicknames, Purifiers, Pure Powers, etc. You know what I own anyway.

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Chapter 6 – Strange Disease (Present)

**Present…**

Siberia dashed across the halls and out of the Pokémon HQ Lab. Professors and Trainers, who were either living there or dropping by, started to look at her with great confusion. Unable to figure out what Siberia was running after for, they just shrugged it off like as if it was none of their business. However, they never stopped to think that when Siberia worries about something, it is definitely a huge matter.

Enough about them; they aren't as important as Stan's life.

Siberia continued running in the southern direction which was where a creepy-looking manor situated at. It looked like an abandoned haunted house with broken windows and windowsills and the house itself was dull. The roof of the 'haunted house' was made entirely out of wood and two complicated metallic rods were placed at the left and right ends of the roof with one rod at each end. Electricity formed from these rods and the electricity remained as electrical balls, all tangled up with the rod. In front of the 'haunted house' was a small fountain with a statue of a Groudon situated in the middle of the water.

Siberia arrived at the gates, panting heavily. It was a very tiring trip for her as she didn't get her scooter. It would make traveling around in Orre so much better and more comfortable if she had gotten on her scooter. After taking a few long, deep breaths, Siberia made her way towards the 'haunted house'. Getting past the gates and the fountain, Siberia went up to the wooden door of the house. She opened it slowly and it gave a loud, slow '**_Creeeeaaaaaaakkk…_**' as it opened. Siberia closed it with her left paw, using her right paw to cover one of her ears as the door creaked once more before getting itself closed.

Siberia looked at her surroundings. A plasma TV was right in front of her with a few video tapes lying around. To her right was a locked automated door which led to a place Siberia had never gone before and to her left was an unlocked automated door. She walked up to it and it gave a swift '**_Swish!_**' thus granting Siberia passage to the room.

"Siberia?" Her ears perked up when she heard her name. Turning around, Siberia noticed an old doctor looking straight at her with strange spectacles.

"Hi, Dr. Kaminko! Long time no see!" Siberia greeted chirpily with a slight hint of worry and relief in her voice.

"It's really you, Siberia! Indeed, it has been quite some time since we last met. Let's see… Was it 10 years ago since we last met?"

"Why, yes indeed."

"Ah. I remember when you were still a young girl with those adorable shades of yours. You've always worn them, yet you aren't wearing them now. You look so different now. Oh yes, how is Tora? From the look of things, I'd say you two have started a family."

"…" Siberia blushed at the comment, but her expression was neutral. She had no idea whether to be happy or upset.

"How many kids have you given birth to?"

"Well… Two," Siberia spoke softly. She put up two fingers of her paw to indicate the number 'two'.

"How marvelous! I would really like to see them but I am busy with my project and my assistant, Chobin, isn't helping much except give comments and promoting my inventions. So, anyway, for you to be back in Orre, you must have something important going on, yes? And for you to be able to visit me, you must have a lot of free time on your paws! Hahaha!" Dr. Kaminko chuckled.

"Actually, Doctor, ever since I've come to Orre, I've been really busy and I came here not because I have a lot of free time. I came because I need your help. And anyway, even if I **_do _**have a lot of free time, I would be spending some quality time with my son instead of being here."

"Wow. How disheartening… But since you need my help, I'd be more than happy to help you. What do you need, Siberia?"

Siberia gave a loud, worried sigh.

"I need a cure, Doctor. For my son."

**Pokémon HQ Lab…**

What Tora went through those 10 years ago was NOTHING compared to what Stan was going through. And that was only the beginning of Stan's disease.

Stan was engulfed in a silvery white aura that was glowing dangerously and brightly. He could barely sleep even though he was in a trance-like state. His fever was getting worse with every minute. It was at a very high temperature and getting even higher. His headache was turning into a major headache and Stan couldn't open his eyes even if he wanted to. All he could do to lessen the pain was clutching onto his bed sheets and waiting for his mother to return (hopefully) with a cure. His Pokémon couldn't do anything about it either. All of his Water and Ice type Pokémon's attacks were rendered useless in cooling the fever down.

It seemed like as if hope was all lost.

"Mommy…" a baby Azurill whimpered to her mother Azumarill, "I'm scared."

"I know, honey. But there's nothing we can do…"

**Kaminko Manor…**

"Ah… So you wish to find a cure for your son?"

"Yes. You've done it for Tora before. I hope you could help my son too."

"Th- that…" Dr. Kaminko stuttered, "Th-that… I-I'm afraid I… I-I can't help you, Siberia."

Siberia's eyes widened with pure horror.

"Why not?!"

"You see…" Kaminko picked up a scrap of metal and tossed it aside before continuing, "The illness Tora had those years ago is different from your son's. Both illnesses seem alike in symptoms, but very different in cures. Tora's illness was totally easy to cure as I have seen those illnesses before but for a Master Purifier to get it…" Kaminko shook his head sadly which indicated to Siberia what he meant. Siberia's ears folded down and she let a tear drop while closing her eyes.

"So… there's no hope at all…?" Siberia opened her eyes which were turning red due to her crying. "Not even a little…?"

"I'm sorry, Siberia…" Kaminko placed a paw on her shoulder to comfort her but it wasn't helping at all. Siberia accepted his comfort but she continued crying. Kaminko almost cried himself not because Stan was done for, but because he couldn't help out a friend in need. "I'm sorry…"

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A/N: Suspense, suspense. But of course, for those people who love watching drama serials would know that the protagonist always survives at the end. However, some of you might be able to guess what I really have in mind for Stan. For the last time, no, I do not hate Stan. In fact, he's my all-time favourite character of Hamtaro but think about it. Don't fans like me and you torture our favourite characters even though they are our favourites?

It's always like that, isn't it? Of course, while I was planning some parts of this story (the conclusion, to be frank), I wanted to kill Stan but that would mean that I'll have to stop the Purifiers saga with five stories and I wanted six stories so I cancelled out that thought. Besides, I'm not **_that _**cold-blooded.

Next chapter: Tora might be able to survive his illness with the help of an eccentric doctor named Kaminko. But what does this deranged doctor have in mind and how will he cure Tora? And what's the deal with Purifiers being the only ones who get this illness?

I apologise once again for short chapters.


	7. Hope: Past

Author's Note: I am so sorry for having so few updates… I've been very busy lately, especially with homework and graded assignments. I'm not even free enough during the holidays to update! The most I could update is a mere one chapter, or if I'm lucky enough, two chapters. I've got camp during the March holidays so I'm busier than ever. I feel so depressed that I can't update… And if this was a short chapter, I also apologise for that. Now to send replies to reviewers!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for Purifiers, Pure Powers, etc. You know what I own and what I don't own anyway.

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Chapter 7 – Hope (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Tora was lying in the bed with his eyes tightly shut. He was making a very ill look and his face was covered with sweat. His usually dark orange fur had turned a bright shade of yellow and he seemed to have grown thinner. After all, he hadn't eaten anything for days – no, for **_weeks_** – and Siberia was utterly worried. Not even the best doctor around could do anything for Tora. What should she do? No, what **_could _**she do about this matter? Tora would have to die, sooner or later, because of this illness and yet, Siberia couldn't do anything at all. There was no hope… or was there?

'**_Swish_**!' gave the Pokémon Center door. Footsteps could be heard as the strange hamster walked up towards the counter. After some conversation, the weird hamster walked up the staircase leading to Tora's room. He tried to open it, only to find out that it was locked from the inside.

"Excuse me?" the stranger spoke. "Is anyone in there?"

Silence.

"I've come to help you."

Silence.

"Oh well. It's your loss."

Silence.

"Don't you want Tora to survive? I can help you with that."

Running footsteps could be heard. Siberia was rushing to open the door but only slightly. She still felt that she couldn't trust this stranger.

"Don't be afraid, Siberia. I've come to cure Tora."

"R-really?" Siberia muttered out.

"Really, you can trust me on this. That's why I am Dr. Kaminko!" the stranger declared. Siberia fully opened the door in shock.

"**_The _**Dr. Kaminko?! The famous doctor who is said to be able to cure unimaginable and rare illnesses?!"

"That's right, lassie! Now, could you please let me in so that I could take a look at Tora?"

"Immediately!" Siberia walked out of the way to let Kaminko in. He walked with his paws on his back as he went over to look at Tora, seeing Lunarina and Solarito lying around while he was at it.

"Hm…" Kaminko stated as he leaned over Tora to get a better look at his condition. "Well, pinch me and call me 'Oknimak'! … Whatever that means… I mean, this is the most fatal disease of all diseases!"

"F-f-f-fatal…? Then… you can't cure Tora…?"

"Fear not, Siberia. I can come up with a cure. All you need to do is follow what I instruct you to do."

"O-okay… I'm listening…"

**Several hours later…**

For several hours, Siberia was listening attentively to Kaminko's lesson about Purifiers and their powers, as well as the fatal illness that only Purifiers can get. Kaminko also taught Siberia how to cure this illness if it didn't seem too serious and Tora's condition was not serious at all, compared to other poor Purifiers who have died of the illness. Siberia understood everything and followed Kaminko's instructions on curing Tora's illness.

"Remember Siberia, if you screw up, it can mean Tora's death."

"I-I understand…"

"Tora's fate is now in your paws and mine. This cure is not a hundred percent reliable but it's worth a try, don't you agree, child?"

"Y-yes…" Siberia diverted her attention to the sleeping Tora, not listening to what Kaminko said anymore. '_Tora looks so…innocent and cute when he's sleeping… It's like as if he doesn't even have this illness…_'

"Siberia?" Kaminko asked, trying to get her attention. He waved a paw in front of her eyes and finally got her back from daydream land. "Child, are you interested in Tora?"

Siberia could've sworn that she could have broken the world's blushing record.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-no! I mean, y-yes! N-no! I mean, uh…!" Siberia took a huge breath and exhaled. She tried her best not to stutter much and continued, "Wh-what makes you think that, Dr. Kaminko?"

"Ah, from your answer, I can tell that you are interested in him."

"No way! I mean, I just met him and…"

"Child, there **_is _**one type of love that is called 'love at first sight'. I think this would be your case."

"Please stop teasing me, Kaminko…"

"Alright, alright, I won't pursue for any more answers from you. We'll talk again after Tora heals. Who knows? He might like you in the process." Kaminko walked away with a toothy grin. Siberia looked at him, then at Tora, then back at the walking Kaminko and blushed once more.

**Several days later…**

"What? You're leaving?!"

"Siberia, keep it down. Don't wake Tora up."

"But… But, Dr. Kaminko, you **_can't _**leave just yet! Tora still hasn't fully recovered!"

"I know, Siberia, but since he's recovering a little, it's your turn to take care of him. Besides, I'm needed somewhere else. After I'm done with that, I'll come back to check up on him."

"But, Kaminko, wouldn't Tora's condition worsen while you're away? You said so yourself! You said that Purifiers would die if they aren't given any care from the doctor at all times! You can't just abandon him now! He would die!"

"… Siberia…"

"… Huh…?"

"Remember what I told you about Purifiers getting this illness?" Siberia nodded her head and Kaminko continued, "What they really need is love and concern from their families. Everyone says that sick hamsters need a cure… But have they ever stopped and reconsidered the situation? A cure… a cure… The **_real _**cure is love. Love… and concern… These are the keys to curing an ill hamster… And this applies to Purifiers as well."

"… Kaminko…"

"The reason why only Purifiers get this illness is because this is somewhat like a test. A test to see if they have the willpower to carry on with life… Normal hamsters don't get it because they are born into this world with no powers whatsoever, but Purifiers are born with unimaginable power. This power has to be controlled somehow and I've discovered that the only way for Purifiers to gain control of their true power is through this illness. And this illness is made to be fatal because of this reason… and nothing else. Purifiers are born to do incredible things for this cold, cruel world but they can't do anything if they don't pass this test…

"That is why **_you _**have to stay with Tora by his side. What Purifiers need in order to survive and gain control is the love and concern from their families. Tora has no family other than his Pokémon and you. You need to stay and look after him while I try to help patients. After I cure Tora, I'll retire from this tiring job and become a robotics doctor instead. Before that, you'll have to cure Tora… IF you don't, I don't know what is going to become of this world…"

"………………" Siberia was completely taken aback by all of this new information. Even though she was a Purifier herself, it was not necessary for her to undergo this ordeal because it didn't take much to gain control over her powers but Tora… Tora was… **_different_**. "I understand, Kaminko…" Siberia whispered as she closed the door quietly and let beads of her tears drip from her bloodshot eyes. She thought Tora had no hope of surviving, yet he did and Siberia was going to help with Tora's recovery, by hook or by crook.

Meanwhile, Kaminko walked away quietly and looked back.

"Yes, Siberia… Please help me cure Tora…"

As he spoke, an explosion happened somewhere distant but near Phenac City and a gang of hamsters could be seen escaping from there with some Pokémon with them. They were cackling away, feeling very proud of the damage they had caused. Kaminko continued on his way, shaking his head sadly, muttering to himself some strange yet serious things…

"If Tora dies, then the world of Pokémon will be in dire straits… And if that happens… then the end of the entire universe would draw near…"

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A/N: Ahh, the suspense. I know many of you readers would be wondering why this end of the world thing will happen if Tora dies. Well, this will all be revealed in the concluding story of all of my sagas. However, that would take a tremendously long time for me to write the story up so I have decided to give some hints in this story's ending chapters.

Thank me for that, OK? It will take me quite some time to think up of how it would all go along, like which hint should be in which part of the story. I'll also drop some hints as we go along with Author's Notes at the end of every chapter. Watch out for the hints! I won't be revealing too many… :)

Next chapter: Stan is recovering, thanks to what Siberia remembered about loving and caring for the sick. But when Stan is on the brink of death, will his Pokémon be able to save him instead?

Hint 1: There is a legend about a prophecy that will happen in the near future where the end of the entire world would happen, all because of one hamster. The prophecy goes like this:

_The existence of evil begins, and the end would come by all means._

_Should the two merge as one, and their skills are second to none,_

_Then evil shall reign as the Tainting one is born, _

_But it shall be defeated by the Pure one that's ever so forlorn…_

_The Master of the Master Purifiers…_

_And the Master of the Master Tainters…_

_The end draws near…_

_This shall be your darkest fear…_

It's scary, isn't it? Well, I'll be giving more hints as we go along. This is already one of the most revealing hints I'll be giving.

Thank me.


	8. Hope: Present

Author's Note: I am quite busy now and I spent yesterday looking for Gakuen Alice fics so I apologise for not updating. I am so crazy about it! And this will be another chapter that will be very short. OK, here are some thanks to my reviewers!

Disclaimer: Read the previous chapters for the disclaimer. Sorry, I'm just too lazy to write. 0

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Chapter 8 – Hope (Present)

**Present…**

Siberia gave a sharp gasp, her sweat trickling down her face. She sat upright, breathing heavily.

"Don't worry, Siberia…" she muttered to herself. "It's all just a bad dream. Don't let it get to you…" Siberia tried to get back to sleep but she couldn't. Not after what Kaminko told her the terrible news.

Wait…

"That's it…!" Siberia realised it and got out of her bed immediately. She dashed out of her room and opened Stan's door. Still panting heavily, Siberia went over to her son who was sleeping soundly but was still emitting the silvery white aura. Some of his Pokémon were sleeping as well, except for one or two that were very worried, one of which was Nightshade.

"M… Mo… Mom… Mommy…" Stan whimpered.

"Stan, don't worry. Mommy's here. I'm here…"

"Mm…" Stan opened his eyes slowly, which was already causing him much pain. "Mom… Will I be OK?"

"Even if you won't, I'll make sure that you'll be alright, because you are my only son… Stan."

**The next day…**

Stan was sleeping in pain and suffering, and everyone at the Pokémon HQ Lab was utterly anxious and worried about his health. All of Stan's Pokémon stayed by him, unwilling to leave his side, unwilling to eat, unwilling to stay in their PokéBalls and unwilling to gain any contact outside of the room.

"What can we do? It's only been less than a day and Stan's Pokémon already understand the situation," Kaminko stated. Everyone at the Pokémon HQ Lab was having a discussion and Kaminko was invited, just in case.

"Which is…?" one of the lab assistants asked.

"Hopeless."

While everyone was busy gasping and discussing, Siberia was sitting there in a daze, thinking very deeply about the situation. Her brows furrowed, her expression serious and her thoughts mixed up.

'_It's getting from bad to worse…All of Stan's Pokémon are not getting any help from us because they just want to be with Stan for the last days of his life…_' Siberia shook the terrible thought away. '_No, Stan will survive! I just have to believe in him! If only his Pokémon could feel the same way too… All Stan needs is love and concern, and maybe even the slightest bit of hope could help pull him through… Wait! That's it! Hope! It was what I felt when Tora himself was ill! I hoped for him to pull through, and he did! Maybe… it's the same for Stan… I won't know unless I try…_' Siberia got up from her seat and rushed inside with everyone else staring at her blankly before deciding to follow her and find out what she was up to.

"Nightshade, Danielle! Please!" Siberia shouted as she banged on the door which was locked, or rather, held tightly by Danielle's Psychic attack. "You have to have some hope and faith! Stan will be OK. You can trust me on this!"

"But I thought you said that his case is hopeless!" Bulba, Stan's Bulbasaur, exclaimed. "If this is hopeless, we might as well spend the last moments of his life with him!"

"No, it's not hopeless! You HAVE to believe me! All Stan needs is concern and love, and even a bit of hope. What he needs is you! **_All_** of you! Just a bit of all of your concern for him would help!"

"How can that be, Auntie Siberia? Staying by him shows our concern already but Stan isn't recovering!" Twins, Stan's Doduo, argued back.

"Staying by him won't help at all! It just shows that you have no faith in your Trainer!"

Those words struck them hard. **_Real _**hard.

"… I didn't think you would think that way, Auntie Siberia…" Torch, Stan's Torchic, whimpered.

"I'm sorry if that hurt all of you but this is the only way to wake every one of you and come to your senses! Just believe in Stan! You've been with him all your lives! You know him by now! You know he'd do **_anything _**for you, especially you… Nightshade."

"Huh?" Nightshade looked up, tears forming in his eyes. "Wha… What are you implying…?"

"Remember when you were born? Stan told me that when you were born, your heart wasn't functioning properly. He told me that you weren't breathing properly and you have no idea how worried he was about you. Even though he had yet to know you back then, he already loves you. That night, he rushed from home and climbed over the steep mountains just so that he could find a Pokémon Centre for you. Do you have the faintest idea how high and steep the mountains were? He did all that for you. He wanted to save your life because he doesn't want a Pokémon to die without fulfilling its purpose for being born."

Nightshade didn't say anything. He couldn't cry and he couldn't explain how he was feeling.

"Please… just let me see Stan…" Siberia requested.

"Danielle…" Nightshade spoke quietly, but loud enough for Danielle to hear.

"Y-yes, Onii-chan…?"

"… Open the door…"

**A few days later…**

Stan was recovering perfectly, just like what Siberia thought so. Within these few days, Stan was running and having fun, just like before. It was like he forgot all about his pain and suffering from his illness and moved on. It was like as if he didn't want to remember the pain. What the others didn't know was that Stan remembered how horrible it felt to have that illness and maybe… it was true that what he really needed was hope from his Pokémon…

"Mom…? I don't feel so good again…"

"Oh no! I'd better bring you back inside and call Kaminko!" Siberia carried Stan back to his room and Siberia found a nearby phone she could use to call Kaminko. "Kaminko, Stan's feeling sick again."

"Oh dearie dear… I was afraid this would happen…"

"What can we do?"

"Hope for the best. Stan is, after all, the key to fulfilling the prophecy…" It was at this point when Kaminko was talking to himself.

"Prophecy? What prophecy?"

"Ack! Take it that you didn't hear anything, Siberia!"

"Tell me or else, Kaminko! What damn prophecy?!"

"… You see…"

**With Stan…**

Stan's eyes were open but he was trembling dangerously. Sweat was trickling down his face non-stop and all of his Pokémon were still there, right beside him.

"Stan, don't leave us!" Evolution exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine… Remember, we just need to cling on to a bit of hope. That's how humans survive in a world of stress and pressure, don't you think?"

"But Stan, we…"

"You don't have to worry about me now. And wipe away those tears, the lot of you. You're all reminding me of Dad…"

**Flashback…**

**5 years ago…**

"Daddy, tell me a bedtime story. I can't sleep."

"OK, come on up here, my son." Tora put down his diary and carried Stan to his laps. "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Pokémon!"

"Typical. All right. I'll tell you a story which my own father told me. There was a young boy who aspired to be a Pokémon Trainer and train alongside with Pokémon. He figured that since his birthday was coming soon, he would be allowed to go on his journey. On his birthday, he chose an Eevee as his starter Pokémon. After many years of training together, the boy and his Eevee, which evolved into an Umbreon during their journey, gained many new Pokémon friends and won many championships together. However, one fateful day, the boy was diagnosed with cancer. Not wanting his Pokémon to get worried, he didn't tell them, not even his Umbreon.

"The boy continued hiding the secret until he fainted and was admitted to hospital. That was when the Umbreon realised that its Trainer was hiding his condition from it and was so angry and scared. The boy had a few more days to live and those days were spent together with his Pokémon. Eventually, the boy died and all of his Pokémon cried. They cried… a lot… a lot…"

"A lot…?"

"Yes… A lot… There was so much sorrow and despair. So many tears… and those tears brought the boy back to life."

"But how is that possible?"

"You see, my dear Stan, it is said that Pokémon tears are filled with life."

"Life?"

"Yes. Pokémon are magical creatures that we don't know much about. Because of this heart-warming story passed down for generations, Pokémon Professors have discovered that the tears Pokémon shed when they are full of sorrow and despair are filled with life. And it was those tears containing life that brought the boy back. The life in the tears gave the boy life as well."

"That's so touching, Dad…"

"Yes… Amazing… Now go to sleep."

"Kay… Night, Dad. Night, Dad…"

**Flashback ends**

**Present…**

"Dad…" Without him even knowing it, Stan closed his eyes as he remembered everything about his father.

And it is said that when someone dies, his/her entire life's memories would flash right before his/her eyes.

"Stan…? Stan! Stan! Wake up! Don't sleep!" Nightshade yelled but to no avail.

"Stan!!!" all of the Pokémon screamed.

After dreaded minutes of screaming, the Pokémon quietened down. Tears fell from all of their eyes and the tears floated in the air of the room. They couldn't stop themselves from crying and letting all of their tears drop, not even the toughest of the Pokémon. Nightshade was the only one who didn't cry and it was not because he was cold-blooded. It was because he was too sad. He was so sad that there was no way he could cry… until…

"Stan……" Muttering his trainer's name for the last time, Nightshade allowed himself to cry out. His blue rings glowed tremendously, reacting to the tears and at the same time, Stan regained consciousness.

'_Did I just… die?_' Stan's eyes fluttered open. '_It… It was just like the story Dad told me… That Pokémon tears are filled with life…_'

"Nightshade…?"

'_Stan's voice…? No, I'm dreaming… That can't be my Trainer…_' Nightshade looked up and gasped.

"S-Stan! Sniff… STAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!" Nightshade screamed, getting attention from everyone. He ran up to his Trainer and into Stan's outstretched arms. Upon getting into Stan's embrace, Nightshade hugged his Trainer, not wanting to let go. "You're alive!"

Siberia and all the other staff of the Pokémon HQ Lab couldn't believe it. They were overjoyed and Siberia stopped thinking about the prophecy.

Stan hugged his Shiny Umbreon back, letting crystalline-like tears fall and drip onto Nightshade's fur.

"Of course I'm alive… After all, Pokémon tears are filled with life… and hope."

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A/N: Oh yes! The Purifier illness arc is complete and we are moving on to the next arc of this story: the Shadow Pokémon arc. It will take up many chapters of Snagging and Purifying and after that will be the Miror B. arc and finally, the Cipher arc and the Father-Son arc.

Next chapter: Tora meets up with some Cipher Peons and Snags his first Shadow Pokémon. Can he survive handling his first Shadow Pokémon?

Hint 2: Stan is the key to fulfilling the prophecy.

I apologise for too much dialogue in this chapter.

It was necessary.


	9. The Shadow Pokémon Arc Begins: Past

Author's Note: Ah… Finally, I've got tons and tons of Gakuen Alice fics in Favourites… It feels so rejuvenating. I've never been so in love with an anime before! Too bad the anime ended at episode 26. Anyway, I feel like writing up a Gakuen Alice fic soon so keep an eye out!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 9 – The Shadow Pokémon Arc Begins (Past)

**10 years ago…**

"So… Siberia, where did that eccentric doctor Kaminko go to? I thought you said that he'd stay for a while longer," Tora asked.

"Well, he said he's busy with another patient somewhere else. After he's done, he'll come back to check up on you."

"So that's it, huh? No big deal," Tora shrugged and took a sip from his cup of tea.

Days had passed since Kaminko left Siberia to take care of Tora. Sure, Siberia was totally worried and didn't know how to take care of Tora while she was at it but in a blink of an eye, Tora seemed to have become healthier than ever. Heck, he didn't even need to be on medication any more. Tora was able to move around freely without Siberia worrying about him since Tora assured her that he was totally fine. Although Tora complained of occasional dizzy spells, it was just because he didn't have enough water to drink.

"Anyway, there's no need for that eccentric doctor to see me now. I'm still alive and kicking!" Tora joked. "You know, I'm actually thinking about…"

"About what?" Siberia warned. "Training? Even though you've just recovered, it doesn't mean that you can go running off and training again. You fell sick in the first place because of that!" Tora noticed Siberia's voice getting more anxious with every word but was stubborn enough to ignore it.

"Ooh lah lah! You're scared, aren't you? Don't worry, Siberia my lady, I just want to go out and have some fun!"

If looks could kill, Tora would've been killed by Siberia by now. A sweat drop appeared on his head, anime style. He swung his arms around.

"Easy, **_eeaaasy_**, Siberia. I was just joking around, that's all. No need to get so uptight…"

Siberia sighed and let the matter rest. She figured that Tora was already bored enough without the permission to play with his Pokémon, let alone being banned from going outside to play. Siberia felt like as if she was Tora's mother!

"OK, fine, if you want to go out so badly, I think I can let you go this afternoon."

That sentence made Tora nearly choke on his tea.

"Seriously?!" Tora exclaimed while wiping his mouth. "You're like my mother, you know!"

A vein popped from Siberia's head, anime style, and she was glaring at Tora once more.

**That afternoon…**

Tora grabbed Lunarina and Solarito's PokéBalls before going to grab his robe. It was getting chilly outside, according to the weather reports, so he figured that he might as well take his robe along with him.

Tora's robe was a majestic one. It looked like it had belonged to the royal family. Tora's robe was a beautiful shade of navy blue which had red zigzag markings. Most of his robe was coated with the navy blue, though. Tora never remembered how he got the robe. All he could remember was that it was his mother who gave it to him but Tora couldn't remember how she looked like. The robe had a red outline as well and its own hood in case of bad weather.

Tora tied his beloved robe to his neck, put on matching blue gloves and boots, and a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. He looked like as if he was getting ready to set off on an adventure rather than just a normal outing to Phenac City's Colosseum.

"Tora, are you done yet?" Siberia's impatient voice called out. She opened the door and gasped. "Wow… T-Tora, is that really you?"

"Hm?" Tora looked down at his swaying robe and looked back at Siberia, not noticing any difference in him. "Yeah, it's me. Why? Can't you recognize me?" Siberia didn't reply. She was too busy looking at Tora in his outfit. She was blushing like crazy and couldn't notice it. She only felt the rising temperature of her cheeks but paid no attention to it. Her eyes dazzled and she herself was in a daze.

"Siberia? **_Siiiibbberrriiiiiaaaaaaaa_**…?" Tora waved his paw to get her attention but got nothing. "SIBERIA!!!!!" Siberia blinked and shook her head to get out of her dream. The blush faded slowly but there was still a tinge of pink there.

"Hey, no need to shout! What is it?"

"Are you OK? You've been standing there for like, 10 minutes staring at me. Why? Is there anything wrong with my outfit or what?"

"Oh… I-it's nothing…"

"Well, then, we better get going." Tora walked out of the door but then realized something important that he had to tell Siberia. "Oh, by the way, Siberia, pink looks great on you."

Siberia blushed like crazy again, for she was wearing a hot pink sweater. Noticing her blush, Tora, too, blushed like crazy.

**Later on…**

Throughout the entire outing, Siberia had been clinging onto Tora's arm, causing the tiger hamster blush throughout the entire outing too. Siberia was also blushing a lot, but her face seemed uncertain and afraid. Each time Siberia passed by a Trainer at the Colosseum, her grip on Tora's arm would tighten.

"Siberia, are you OK? You've been holding onto me for a long time now."

"Tora… I don't feel safe here… Can you feel something weird here too?"

"Um… I don't think so… Sure, I feel like something bad is going to happen but I feel like as if it's somewhere far away, not here."

"So, you feel something then."

"Aside from the pain from your grip and my own emotions, yeah."

"Aah! Sorry!" Siberia immediately let go of Tora's arm which was quite sore and red from all of that gripping and clinging, but Tora didn't seem to mind.

"_Daijoubu_, Siberia. Come on, let's go to the Mayor's house."

"For what?"

"For reporting what those two kidnappers did to you before. You've been spending so much time taking care of me that you didn't even have time on your paws to go and tell the Mayor what happened to you." Siberia couldn't help but blush even more.

"_H-Hai! Domo arigatou gozaimasu, _Tora!"

"_Iie, doitashimashite!_" Tora replied with a smile that made Siberia blush even more.

**The Mayor's house…**

The Mayor's house was quite a big house with a blue roof and water flowing down the roof. The door was another automatic door and Tora, holding Siberia's paw, went in without any further hesitation. To their surprise, instead of the Mayor in the house, the two kidnappers and someone else dancing were in there!

"OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT'S THAT THING EATING HIS HEAD?!" Sibiera screamed at the top of her voice.

"Don't worry, Siberia. That's just his hair."

The two kidnappers, Trudly and Folly, were motioning to the dancing one who was wearing a golden outfit that shone brightly under the lights of the room. He was wearing golden high-heel boots and turned around, facing Tora and Siberia, still dancing to his beat.

"Ah-ha! Now who is this pretty and young lady?" the dancing one asked.

"Back off, creep! Who are you, and what have you done to the Mayor?" Tora demanded, jumping in front of Siberia as a form of protection, making her blush.

"Why, you little spunk, I'm Miror B.! And I'm a member of Cipher! I've come to take this pretty lady and dance all the way back to the boss with her!"

"No way! If you're going to do that, you'll have to get through me!" With that, Tora got Lunarina's PokéBall ready, along with Solarito's, and his eyes flashed white for a moment.

"All right! A perfect time for pay-back!" Folly said, demanding to battle with Tora.

**Battle Mode**

"I'm going to teach you a lesson this time!" – Folly

Cipher Peon Folly would like to battle!

Folly sent out Whismur and Whismur!

Tora sent out Lunarina and Solarito!

**Lunarina's Moveset **Lv. 36 (Girl)

Bite

Faint Attack

Snatch

Thief

**Solarito's Moveset **Lv. 34 (Boy)

Confusion

Quick Attach

Swift

Tail Whip

(Both) **Whismur's Moveset **Lv. 30 (Boy)

Pound

Uproar

Growl

Supersonic

"Piece of cake. Lunarina, Faint Attack! Solarito, Confusion!" – Tora

Lunarina faded away while Solarito used Confusion on one of the Whismurs, knocking him out. When Lunarina appeared, she managed to strike and hit the other Whismur out cold.

Tora defeated Cipher Peon Folly!

"What?! Not again!" – Folly

Tora got $700 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

"You good-for-nothing! Let **_me _**handle this!" Trudly complained as he ran up towards Tora, another challenge!

**Battle Mode**

"I'll stomp you flat this time, you punk!" – Trudly

Cipher Peon Trudly would like to battle!

Trudly sent out Lotad and Whismur!

Tora sent out Lunarina and Solarito!

**Lotad's Moveset **Lv. 28 (Boy)

Water Gun

Absorb

Growl

Secret Power

**Whismur's Moveset **Lv. 30 (Boy)

Pound

Uproar

Growl

Supersonic

"Like this will be a threat. Lunarina, Faint Attack on the Lotad! Solarito, Confusion on Whismur!" – Tora

Lunarina faded away once more and Solarito used one more Confusion on the Whismur, knocking him out too. When Lunarina appeared once more, she knocked out Lotad at the same time with Solarito!

Trudly returned Lotad and Whismur and sent out Makuhita!

"Ah, this is going to be so easy! Solar-!" – Tora

"_Wait, Tora! Hold on! I sense something!_" – Siberia

Siberia took out her shades and put them on. She stared hard at the Makuhita and gasped as she kept her shades on.

"_Tora! That's a Shadow Pokémon! You have to Snag it but don't make it faint!"_ – Siberia

"Luckily for me, I got some PokéBalls with me and my Snag Machine." – Tora

"_You snuck it out, didn't you?" _– Siberia

"Ah… Yeah…" – Tora

"_I'm going to kill you after this." _– Siberia

**Makuhita's Moveset **Lv. 28 (Boy)

Shadow Rush

Tora put the Snag Machine on and activated it. It whirred ad gave out a beeping sound to show that it's ready and charged up.

"Lunarina, Bite on the Makuhita! Solarito, stand back!" – Tora

Lunarina used her Bite on the Makuhita but it didn't do much damage! Makuhita glared at Lunarina.

"Makuhita, Shadow Rush!" – Trudly

Makuhita emitted a shadowy aura and charged at Lunarina who got hit and injured badly! The shadowy aura blinded Tora for a moment and the impact made his eyes temporarily blind, literally.

"Ow! Lunarina, Bite!" – Tora, while putting on his goggles

Lunarina Bites Makuhita once more, this time causing the Fighting type to stumble backwards!

"_Now, Tora!" _– Siberia

Tora charged up a Snag Ball, gripped onto it tightly, turned around, got ready and threw the Ball at the Makuhita! The Ball managed to contain the hurt Makuhita and the Ball shook once… twice… thrice…

Stop.

"Gotcha! Makuhita is Snagged!" – Tora

Tora defeated Trudly!

"Aah! The Shadow Pokémon… Gone!" – Trudly

Tora got $1000 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

Trudly and Folly ran up to Miror B., shaking like a leaf.

"Argh… You little…! Never mind!" Miror B. faced his subordinates and shouted, "Let's go! Escape!" Miror B., Trudly and Folly rushed out of the Mayor's house as quickly as they could, leaving Tora and Siberia in the room. Tora walked over to the ball containing the Makuhita and grinned. Tora bent down and patted his Pokémon on the head.

"Wow. It looks like this baby **_could _**be of some use after all," Tora stated and rubbed the Snag Machine before getting up and walking towards Siberia. "Looks like the Mayor isn't here. We'll come here another time."

"Looks like there won't be an 'another time' after I'm done with you, Tora!!"

'_It's official; She's mad._'

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A/N: Oh yeah, this chapter's done! Now I shall go read more Gakuen Alice fics! Oh yeah, I'll be posting my Gakuen Alice fic tomorrow since I won't be updating on Friday since I'm going over to **Umbreon-Azure**'s house to play! Yay!

Next chapter: Prof. Krane gets kidnapped and Stan Snags his first Shadow Pokémon! What can he do to save Krane?

I'm thinking about changing the story's genre. What should it be? The Romance has to stay; It's just the Action/Adventure part. What should I change it to?

Anyone got an idea?


	10. The Shadow Pokémon Arc Begins: Present

Author's Note: I have removed all review responses from the previous chapters because I found out from Wiki (I'm sure you all know what it is) that doesn't allow review responses in subsequent chapters. So now, I just want to say a big thank-you to all reviewers! Domo arigatou gozaimasu!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters for disclaimer. You know what I own and what I don't own anyway.

Note: Stan is in his Purifier image in all Present chapters unless I indicate otherwise.

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Chapter 10 – The Shadow Pokémon Arc Begins (Present)

**Present…**

It had been days – no, weeks – since the incident with Stan presumably returning to life due to the tears his Pokémon had shed for him. Stan was as hyper as ever and couldn't wait till he was allowed to travel around Orre with his Pokémon. However, that wouldn't happen for quite some time, because Stan still had one more obstacle to over come, and that obstacle is…

"But Mom-!"

"No 'buts', Stan, and you are not allowed to go out there in that vast cruel world until you can prove to me that you are ready to take up this challenge. And that's final."

"Mom, you aren't being fair! How come Dad got to go when he was my age?"

"…"

"… Mom?"

"Sigh… I'll tell you another time." Siberia walked away slowly, her face showing a depressed expression. Stan looked away guiltily, realizing that he had saddened his mother once more. He, of all people/hamsters, should be fully aware that he should never talk about his father when Siberia was concerned. Otherwise, Siberia would be reminded of what she had done to Tora and would feel depressed for a long time. Stan sighed and walked in the opposite direction.

As Stan took a walk in the park nearby, he took a few glances at his surroundings. It was full of flowering trees and Bug type Pokémon were all around, including the Heracross and the Butterfree. The Butterfree were busily sucking tree sap with the Heracross and the Beautifly were trying to sneak some nectar and pollen from the Grass type Pokémon. Stan noticed his Bulba escaping from a Heracross that was trying to take Bulba's plant sap from his bulb. (Bulba is a male Bulbasaur.) Stan smiled widely, forgetting all of his troubles.

Stan continued watching all of the wonderful and amazing things happening around him. There were Butterfree, Beautifly, Heracross, Caterpie, Beedrill, Oddish, Gloom, Chikorita, Duxtox, Shroomish, Breloom and so much more kinds of Grass, Poison and Bug type Pokémon if Stan never counted Breloom as a Grass-cum-Fighting type. There was already so much to see in the Pokémon HQ Lab's park, let alone all of the exciting sights Stan could see yet missed out there in the vast world of Orre. One who lived somewhere else in Orre will never be able to understand Stan's feelings.

Stan walked away from the park and back into the Pokémon HQ Lab. The professors and researchers greeted him and Stan greeted back. He made his way to his room and locked the door before plopping down on his bed, his paws behind his head. Sighing heavily, Stan closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep in order to forget about his mother declining his request to travel. As Stan was a bout to drift off to dreamland, a voice over the PA system woke him up straight away.

"STANLEY TIGER! STANLEY TIGER! COULD YOU PLEASE COME OVER TO THE TRAINING SYSTEM ROOM NOW? I REPEAT, STANLEY TIGER, PLEASE COME OVER TO THE TRAINING SYSTEM ROOM NOW! THANK YOU!"

"Arrrggghhh!!!" Stan groaned as he got up from his bed. "I swear I'm going to destroy that evil PA system one day!"

**The Training System room…**

The automatic door opened and Stan entered the room. There was a professor handling the controls at one corner of the room. The professor was sitting on his chair and pushing some buttons and pulling levers here and there. Stan greeted the professor who greeted back and Stan walked towards Professor Krane who was standing next to Siberia.

"You rang, Professor?" Stan asked coolly. "Coz you know, I just swore that I would destroy that PA system one day." Both Professor Krane and Siberia sweat dropped anime style.

"Stan, mind your manners!" Siberia reprimanded. Stan just shrugged his shoulders just as coolly.

"Yes, I, uh… 'rang', as you youngsters put it. You see, here in the Training System room, we have a Battle Sim system made especially for Trainers like you to experience real-life battles with Battle Sims and more. I know that Siberia was a little… harsh on you about going to Orre, so I hope that you would enjoy this Battle Sim system," Krane explained. Stan seemed a little interested.

"How does it work?"

"You just step into this simulator, motion to Ribasu over there. The one handling the controls is Ribasu… And then, Ribasu will start the simulator and the system and you would be all set to go!"

"Sounds cool!"

"Why don't you give it a try, Stan? After all, if all your simulated Pokémon battles turn out well, I'm sure your mother would reconsider your request to travel."

That statement really motivated Stan.

**After many, many, many simulated battles…**

All occupants, except for Stan, in the Training System room were staring hard at Stan. Their jaws dropped to the floor and their eyes opened wide with amazement. Stan had cleared all 100 simulated battles of the Battle Sim system – and yet, Stan wasn't even breaking a sweat! Stan went out of the simulator, completely oblivious to all the stares he got till he looked at Siberia.

"Stop staring." And Stan gave everyone a death glare.

"_Koei…_" everyone muttered under their breath. Stan heard it but didn't seem to care. He went out of the room after realizing that it was time for his Pokémon's lunch and decided to go back to his room to get their lunch ready before they go mad. Siberia rushed over to Ribasu as soon as Stan was gone from sight and completely earshot away.

"Ribasu, what is Stan's record?"

"Uh… According to my calculations… Young Master Stan broke his own father's record by an hour!"

"That would make it 100 battles within a timing of…!"

"1 hour, 20 minutes and 52 seconds." Krane walked to Siberia's side and put an assuring paw on her shoulder.

"I think you should have faith in him now."

**The next day…**

Stan was trying hard to break his own record in the Training System room. Of course, he didn't attempt all 100 battles. Stan kept on using the same simulated battle over and over and would constantly ask for his record after the battle. So far, his record for that certain battle, presumably the toughest one, is a perfect 20-second record.

"Oh yes, Young Master Stan, this is the most wonderful piece of work I have ever seen! I'm sure your father is proud of you, no matter where he is right now," Ribasu commented.

"Oh. Yeah. My dad…" Stan mumbled sadly as he got out of the simulator and towards the door.

"Oh, wait, Young Master Stan! I'm-!" Stan ignored Ribasu and walked away. "-sorry…" But Stan was already gone by then.

Stan ran towards Krane's room, seeming ready to talk to Krane about his trip outside of Orre. Stan was surprised to see his mother there as well.

"Ah, Stan! I assume that you have finished your training? Ha ha, I heard Ribasu singing high praises about your marked improvement and now I am certain that I will not be able to win if I were to fare against you," Krane praised.

"Oh, I wish everyone won't shower them with praises all the time. My son and daughter will be spoiled rotten!" Siberia stated.

"Ha ha, don't worry about that, Siberia. Sandy and her friends will arrive here very soon."

If you are wondering what Krane was babbling about, well, Siberia had called up Sandy to come over to Orre to stay till Stan was ready to go home. Of course, the Ham-Hams were utterly surprised to hear about a place called Orre. Maxwell had a hard time trying to explain to them what Orre is, even though he had no idea that Orre was a place in the Pokémon world. Siberia attempted to reveal to everyone Stan's work and true identity but Stan advised her against it because he didn't want his friends to find out the truth about him just yet.

"I suppose they should've been here by now… Unless, of course, they've met with a mishap…" Siberia said with some worry in her voice. She then turned to face Stan and requested, "Stan, sweetie, it might be a nuisance to you if I ask you but could you go and check up on them after Professor Krane is done talking to you? Please, at least do it for your sister."

"Sigh… I won't like it, but fine." Stan then turned to Krane. "So, Prof, what'd you ask me here for?"

"Well, you see, Stan… I have to ask you to do me a favour… Actually, it won't be just me. It would be for everyone in the world, even your father. As you know, Shadow Pokémon have reappeared once more in Orre and without your father and his Snag Machine, I doubt this problem can be solved…"

"… Yeah…?"

"So, your mother and I have decided that since you are the best Trainer here, **_you _**should continue your father's job."

"_Nani? Watashi? _Take up _Otou-san's _job?"

"Hai, Stan-kun," Siberia replied in Japanese.

"_Demo… _What do I do? Purify them and Snag them?"

"Of course. The only problem is… can you do it without a Snag Machine?" Krane asked.

"Well… I'm not that sure yet…"

"I see. I'll be going downstairs now. I'll see if the Snag Machine I've been working on is ready yet. Come and see me later."

"Hai…"

**A few moments later…**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" an earsplitting, high-pitched scream pierced the air around the Pokémon HQ Lab. Stan, being a Purifier with an acute sense of hearing, practically went deaf for a while. He rushed downstairs with his mother and noticed the receptionist panting heavily.

"Kuri! Daijoubu?" Siberia asked the receptionist, Kuri, concernedly.

"H-h-h-hai… _Demo, _the Professor is being taken away by some strange-looking guys! Stan-kun, you have to go help him!" Kuri shouted.

"All right, I'll do it!" Stan rushed outside immediately.

"Be careful, Stan!" Siberia shouted to him.

**Outside…**

A Trainer and a few Professors were knocked out cold when Stan got outside. They were lying unconscious on the ground and their Pokémon seemed to have been taken away. Stan turned his head and saw a bunch of weird-looking guys in white suits and coloured patches. One of them was holding onto Professor Krane.

"Will you let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!" Krane demanded. One of the suspicious guys went up to him.

"Fufufu… We're taking you to your new lab, Professor."

"What… My new lab?"

"If you could just keep quiet and come with us, I'm sure everything will turn out just fine and according to plan."

"You people… What are you?"

Stan tried to sneak up and grab the Professor from behind the one holding onto the Professor but because his footsteps gave out sound (duh), the one who was talking to Krane noticed him and turned around to face Stan.

"Eh? Who are you, kid? This isn't playtime! Get lost!"

**Battle Mode**

"After you lose, you better not cry, kid!" – Naps

"**_Me_**? **_Cry_** because of losing to you?! Not in a million years!" – Stan

Spy Naps would like to battle!

Naps sent out Eevee!

Stan sent out Bulba!

"Hold on a sec. I'm picking up something!" – Stan

Stan stared hard straight at the Eevee and his forehead glowed before a pair of baby blue shades appeared magically, covering Stan's eyes. Stan blinked and once he reopens his eyes, they flashed white dangerously before turning back to normal. However, Stan's eye colours were inverted as a result. Through Stan's eyes, everything surrounding him is dark and only the Eevee can be seen, but it was emitting a shadowy aura.

"Oh! A Shadow Pokémon!" – Stan

"_Stan, I'm surprised that you can spot Shadow Pokémon already! OK, try Snagging it now. Hurry! Before it launches an attack!" _– Krane

**Eevee's Moveset **Lv. 10 (Girl)

Shadow Blitz

Shadow Wave

**Bulba's Moveset **Lv. 12 (Boy)

Tackle

Cut

Vine Whip

Solarbeam

"You want me to Snag it without weakening it?" – Stan

"_Oh, fine. Do it the 'easy' way then!_" – Krane

"Bulba, use your Tackle!" – Stan

Bulba charged at the Eevee and used Tackle, which caused the Eevee to fall backwards. Before Naps could call her to use an attack, Stan summoned up a PokéBall to appear telekinetically. Stan outstretched his left paw and his palm's PokéBall birthmark shone a bright shade of bluish white. A PokéBall, now a Snag Ball, was all charged and ready. Stan turned around, clutched onto the Snag Ball tightly, and as he spun around Stan released the Snag Ball at the Eevee. The Ball captured the Eevee and it shook once… twice… thrice…

Stop.

"That's one Shadow Pokémon with me now!" – Stan

Stan defeated Spy Naps!

"My Eevee! Was it… Was that… a Snag without the Snag Machine?!" – Naps

Stan got $170 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

"Sheesh, kid! What's up with that birthmark of yours!" Naps demanded.

"Wait, Naps! Could it be…? A you-know-what?!" one of Naps's teammates wondered.

"Hey, that's right! That would mean trouble! Come on, let's go and report it to headquarters!" Naps and the others ran off towards their vehicle and placed Professor Krane in the boot. They locked the boot and got into the van which transformed into flying mode and took off. Stan followed them and called up Pidge.

"Come on, Pidge! We have to save the Professor!" Stan said as he got onto Pidge.

"Leave that to me, Stan!" Pidge spread out her wings and took off in the direction the van was flying at. Naps noticed that Stan and Pidge were following them.

"Yo, that Young Purifier is following us! And you know what the boss wants us to do to Purifiers, don't you…?" Naps asked sinisterly. Everyone smiled evilly at each other. "All right! Fire at will!" The van then transformed into a cross between a mission aeroplane and a war tank as soon as Naps said that. Some missiles could be seen emerging slowly from the top and they fired towards Stan.

"Pidge, avoid those missiles!" Pidge obeyed and tried her best to avoid the missiles. Then Naps ordered up the largest missile they had in store for Stan and it was fired at Stan. "Pidge, be careful!" As soon as Pidge dodged it, the missile beeped and turned around and fired itself back at Stan.

"Stan, it has a homing signal! What do we do?!" Pidge asked worriedly.

"Keep on avoiding it! I need some time to turn back to normal!"

"Huh? Why on Earth would you need to do that for?"

"Don't you see that the missile is fired only at us? Those guys must be a part of Cipher and if I'm correct, they have made missiles only for Purifiers since they want to get rid of all Purifiers! If I turn back to normal, then maybe the missile might lose contact and deprogramme itself!"

"Great idea, Stan, even though I have no idea what you're talking about…" Stan held onto Pidge's feathers tightly and closed his eyes, waiting for his body to turn back to normal. As soon as it did, the missile, as expected, stopped moving. After a moment, it beeped and seemed to have recharged itself as it was flying straight at Stan with a burst of new and faster speed. Stan, noticing the danger he was in, turned back to his Purifier image and braced himself.

In no less than 10 seconds, a fiery explosion occurred and darkness soon consumed Stan.

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A/N: OK, if I have spelt any Japanese words wrongly, do let me know. It's just like with my posted Gakuen Alice fic but if any of you who haven't read it yet and don't understand some Japanese words here that aren't translated in the previous chapter, the translations are down there below. I apologise for too much dialogue but it was necessary.

Next chapter: Siberia reveals the great secret of the Purifiers to Tora and also tells him that he is a Purifier but he won't believe her. What will Siberia do to make Tora believe her? Hint no. 3 is in the next chapter!

_Nani?: What?_

_Watashi: Me/I_

_Otou-san: father_

_Demo: But_

_(just in case) Hai: Yes_

_(just in case) Daijoubu?: Are you OK?_


	11. Family Secrets: Past

Author's Note: School has reopened. Sigh… If only the holidays could've lasted longer, otherwise I would be updating theses stories a lot. Nevertheless, I have to compromise. I've made it a point to take down reminders to update in my school diary so that I would never forget to update. Anyway, this chapter will be very short and there won't be any Pokémon battles. _Gomenasai…_

Oh yes, I've forgotten to put in the translation for the Japanese word _koei _in the previous chapter. It means 'scary'.

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters. You know what I own and what I don't own anyway.

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Chapter 11 – Family Secrets (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Tora held onto one of the PokéBalls tightly. It contained the Shadow Makuhita he had Snagged earlier on. As Tora lied down on his bed with a paw supporting his head, he raised the PokéBall up high as it blocked the setting sun's glaring light beaming brightly. Tora sighed and got up from his bed. He went to pull the curtains to totally block the light from entering and plopped back down on his bed, continuing to stare hard at the PokéBall.

'_What am I going to do with you?_' Tora thought as he put the PokéBall aside for a while. '_I don't even know how what Shadow Pokémon truly are. How can I save you from your shadowy state if I don't even know how myself?_' His chain of thoughts was interrupted by a few knocks on his door and Tora jumped over the edge of his bed and rushed to the door to open it.

"Oh, it's you, Siberia."

"Hey, what do you mean by 'it's just you'? Am I such a sore sight to see recently?"

"Frankly, you've been bothering me right from the start. So… yeah." Tora got a hard knock on his head from Siberia as a reply.

"That should teach you a lesson." Tora rubbed his head and was groaning painfully but Siberia paid no attention to Tora's swollen head. "Anyway, I came to see that Shadow Pokémon. Where did you place the Ball?" Tora pointed to the Makuhita's PokéBall and said nothing. Siberia walked towards it and picked it up gently.

"What the heck are we going to do with that… that… **_thing_**?" Tora should've wished he never asked that.

**A few minutes later…**

"OW! OW! OW!!! What the heck did you do **_that _**for?! Have you lost your mind?!" Tora exclaimed at the top of his voice. His arm was all red, sore and swollen, thanks to Siberia's hard bashing up.

"I did that to warn you to never call a Pokémon a 'thing', especially Shadow Pokémon. And no, I have not lost my mind. I am a completely sane hamster," Siberia replied coolly as she rubbed the Shadow Makuhita's PokéBall with a wet towel meant for rubbing Tora's arm.

"Well, you could've told me **_nicely_**."

"Well, you could've asked me **_nicely_**," Siberia countered back. Realising that Tora had no other way to counter back, she grinned widely. "What in the name of crap made you call a Pokémon a 'thing'? I know you by now, Tora, you would never do that."

"Didn't you notice that that Makuhita nearly made me lose my sight back there?! I mean, when it attacked Lunarina with its blinding attack, the impact nearly caused me to go blind!!! That shadowy flash because of the impact was **_so _**blinding! Didn't you feel that?"

Siberia didn't reply. Her pupils dilated as she stared at Tora, dropping the PokéBall as she did so.

"Siberia?"

Nothing.

"Yoooohooooooooo…! SIBERIA!! QUIT STARING AT ME LIKE AS IF I'VE GROWN 2 HEADS!"

That shook Siberia back to her senses, though it seemed that she had lost one of her senses temporarily because of Tora's delusional shouting, and that was her sense of hearing. Siberia covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly.

"All right! All right! Enough already!! You almost made me deaf!" Siberia rubbed her ears. "So, you say that the flash almost made you blind?"

Tora nodded.

"And it was because of the Makuhita's Shadow Rush?"

Tora nodded.

"And the shadowy aura from the attack was very glaring for you?"

Tora nodded.

"Tora…" Siberia dragged Tora closer to her by pulling his intact arm. Tora felt something hot creep up on his face as he was dragged closer to Siberia. They were so close they could've been locked in for a kiss. Tora felt his face burning. "Tora, tell me the truth. Do your eyes hurt now?"

Tora shook his head slowly, the blush still evident on his face.

"Did they hurt after the battle then?"

Tora shook his head, the blush not disappearing, not even a bit.

"Do they hurt whenever they see me?"

"_Eeto…_" Tora smirked smugly. "Not really…" Siberia hit his swollen arm.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"OK, OK, _gomenasai…_ Just stop hitting me already." Tora could feel that his face had become a lot cooler as the blush faded away slowly. He thought about something to ask Siberia to divert his attention away from his sudden blush earlier on. And speaking of a burning sensation, Tora had a lot of burning questions to ask Siberia. "Hey, Siberia-chan, why are you asking so many questions?" Tora blinked, waiting for a reply, but he didn't get any. He smirked smugly and leaned in closer to Siberia's ear. The action caused both of them to blush heavily. "Or…"

Siberia anticipated the moment. Was he going to confess to her that he liked her? Or was there something up his sleeve? Or was he just doing it for fun? Whatever it was, Siberia felt the burning sensation get warmer.

"Or… maybe… are you **_interested _**in me?" Tora asked playfully, only to get another hard knock on the head as an answer.

"W-w-what are you talking about? H-how can I be i-i-i-i-interested in a guy l-like y-you?" Siberia stuttered as she looked away, trying to hide the humongous blush creeping up on her face.

"Oh……reeeeaaallly…?" Tora asked skeptically. "Then why are you stuttering, hm? And why are you looking away, Siberia-chan?"

"N-no apparent reason!" Siberia shouted back as she turned to face him. The blush was gone from Tora's face but it was still evident on Siberia's. Siberia shook her head, trying to shake the blush away but it simply refused to go away. "S-so anyway, I think I might know why you were almost blinded by the light…"

"You do? Tell me," Tora requested seriously. He seemed to have gotten over his childishness.

"E-even if I tell you, you would never believe me…" Tora grabbed both of Siberia's paws with his own and pulled her closer to him like how Siberia pulled him closer to her earlier on. Siberia felt the burning sensation get even warmer every second and she was sweating profusely. Her heart was beating like a sledgehammer and she was unwilling to pull away from Tora's grasp. Tora, however, was not blushing even thought he felt like it. All he wanted, though, was an answer.

"Siberia, tell me. I'll try to believe you."

"_Demo…_"

"_Onegaishimasu, _Siberia-chan."

"…" Siberia looked down. "_H-h-h-hai, _Tora-kun… You see… Remember the time when I told you that I suspected that you were a Purifier…?"

Tora nodded, remembering that incident.

"I think my suspicions are confirmed to be true…"

"_Na…nani…?_"

"You almost became blind because of the light, didn't you? That's a trait all Purifiers share. Whenever they catch sight of a shadowy aura or even a Shadow Pokémon attacking with a Shadow move, the shadowy aura is blinding to them. It only applies to those Purifiers who do not put on safety protection goggles or sunglasses. Tell me, Tora, didn't **_you _**wear your goggles right after the Makuhita hit Lunarina?"

"……" Tora recollected the battle he had hours before. It was true; he **_did _**wear his goggles right after the impact of the Makuhita's Shadow Rush on Lunarina. And after that, his eyes were alright.

"I take your silence as a yes, Tora-kun. I, too, wear shades to protect my eyes from the glaring aura. And that's also because I am a Purifier myself, even if I do not have access to all other Pure Powers. If I have to wear them, and you have to wear them, then… aren't we of the same kind: Purifiers?"

Tora stared at Siberia, not believing what he was hearing. And they spent the entire evening like that, staring at each other, until Tora looked away.

"I… I can't believe this… How… how can it be true…? I was born into a normal family… That's what I remember… So how is it possible that I…?"

"Tora…"

"I'm sorry, Siberia, but you were right. I would never believe you." Tora wiped a few tears from his eyes and walked out of the room, leaving Siberia to look after him as she waited for Tora to return and listen to the rest of her explanation.

'_Tora…_' Siberia thought. '_Why won't you wait till I've finished explaining…? I know you won't believe me… but you can never distort the truth. This has been my family's secret for a very long time. I wish I could share the secret with you, Tora… But it just seems that you don't have the strength to believe me yet. But I will wait for the day util you will believe me. I'll share the family secrets with you someday… **Tora the Master Purifier**_...'

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A/N: _Gomenasai _for a chapter with tons and tons of thoughts and dialogue. It was necessary, as you can see, since there're a lot of questions and answers needed to be spoken here. It seems awfully confusing, and _gomenasai _for that once more…

Next chapter: The Ham-Hams arrive in Orre and mistake Kaminko's lab as the Pokémon HQ Lab as soon as they get there! And what's worse, Chobin has mistaken them for a whole bunch of burglars! How will they handle a Pokémon battle without Pokémon? Can Stan clear up all misunderstandings without divulging his and his family's greatest secret?

(That was one long summary…)

Hint no. 3: Without the prophecy, Stan will never be born at all, for he was born to fulfill the prophecy. (This is one of the most revealing hints ever!)

I've decided to change the Action/Adventure genre to something else, so tell me if it's suitable. _Onegaishimasu, minna-san!_

_Gomenasai: I'm sorry (a polite way of saying 'sorry')_

_Eeto…: Um… well… (pronounced 'ehhtoe', not 'eeetooo')_

_Onegaishimasu: Please (the complete and MAYBE the most polite way of saying it)_

_Minna-san: Everyone_

_(just in case) Demo: But_

_(just in case) Hai: Yes_

_(just in case) Nani?: What?_


	12. Family Secrets: Present

Author's Note: _Onegaishimasu, minna-san! _Review, PLEASE!!! I didn't even get a single review for the previous chapter! I would really appreciate it if you people can at least drop in a review. If you don't even know what to say in your review, you can just simply say, "Please update soon" or something like that, can't you? I've received a review like that for my Gakuen Alice fic and you have no idea how much happiness that one simple review gave me.

_Arigatou, _reviewer. I can't really remember your username. Is it **may250 **or **may520**? I really can't remember but thank you for reviewing. Even if it's just one little simple review, I am very grateful.

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 12 – Family Secrets (Present)

**Present…**

_Kurayami…_

That was all he could see. It was dark… and scary… Was he long gone, like his father? All he could remember was chasing the vehicle, missiles, then… **_nothing_**. Now all he could see was a black and dark scene. Everything was pitch dark. There wasn't even a single soul in the dark world. He couldn't even see himself in the darkness, unless he wasn't dead. That, of course, was impossible.

Was it?

After all, who could've been able to save him from the clutches of death? Pidge, too, was hit by the missiles and couldn't have been able to save him. The only ones present at the incident site were the spies who kidnapped Krane, Pidge and himself. Pidge was injured enough to be unable to save him, and of course, how could the spies have saved him?

"Stan-kun…" came a voice. "Stan-kun… Stan-kun, _onegaishimasu, _wake up."

He suddenly felt like opening his eyes and taking a look at the familiar owner of the voice but he felt something sharp piercing his head when he tried. He felt drained of his energy, like as if there was no life force within him. The voice called for him to wake up once more and he decided not to give up so easily in waking up. There was a bit of hope for him and gathering up any tiny energy left in him, his willpower forced him to open his eyes and awake.

Light had begun to seep through the world of darkness.

"Urgh……" came the groggy reply.

"Stan-kun!" Siberia called out.

"_O… Okaa-san…?_" Stan whispered.

"Mommy's here. I'm here," Siberia smiled, hugging her son tightly.

"Mom, where's Pidge? Is she OK?"

"Oh sweetie, Pidge is well alive and kicking. She's resting in her Ball right now."

"_Ja, _what happened after the explosion?"

"Well…"

**Flashback…**

**6 hours ago…**

"Wha…? Hey, Siberia-chan, did you hear that?" Ribasu asked.

"No…? I didn't."

"That's odd… I heard some explosion somewhere. Given your acute sense of hearing as a Purifier, shouldn't you have been able to hear it?"

"Unless it was caused by a missile that is created to kill Purifie – gasp!" Siberia realized something grave. Her eyes widened in horror and rushed out of the Pokémon HQ Lab immediately. She removed her lab coat and tossed it aside. "Ribasu-kun, please help resume my duties!" Ribasu proceeded to give chase but Siberia was way too fast for him. He spotted the lab coat and picked it up.

"Si… Siberia-chan…?"

Siberia sped past the trees in the garden and heard an earsplitting scream form the sky. Siberia looked up to the sky and all she could see was smoke. Red and orange flames accompanied the thick smoke and a white dot could be seen falling from the sky. Siberia picked up even more speed to be able to get underneath the falling dot. In a split second, something forceful came upon her and Siberia fell to the ground with a thud. Siberia sat up and took a closer look at the white dot.

"S… Stan…?!"

As she said that, Stan glowed a white flash of white and when it dimmed, instead of a white hamster, an orange hamster took its place.

**Flashback ends…**

**Present…**

"_Demo, _what about Pidge?" Stan asked worriedly.

"Pidge was still struggling to keep herself flying but she fell soon afterwards." Siberia then turned to face her son. "Oh, Stan, you had no idea how worried I was about you!" Siberia gave Stan another death hug.

"Mom… You're… clogging… up… my… respiratory… system…" Stan choked out.

"Ah! _Gomenasai!_" Siberia let go of Stan who was taking deep breaths after that. "Um… Stan…?"

"Cough… Yeah, what?"

"Um… About those Ham-Ham friends of yours… It's been a long time since I last heard from them, and if it's not too much of a problem, um…"

"… Sure."

"Eh?"

"Sure, I'll go look for them."

"_Demo _Stan, you haven't recovered!" Stan held up his paw and Siberia protested no further.

"_Daijoubu, okaa-san._" Stan gave his mother a reassuring smile to signify that and Siberia smiled an understanding smile in return. Stan turned into his Purifier image and set off on his search for his friends.

**With the Ham-Hams…**

"Um… Maxwell? Are you like, sure this is the place?" Sandy asked her boyfriend Maxwell, unsure about their destination.

"Sure I'm sure." Maxwell took a quick glance at his surroundings and sweat dropped. "I hope." Everyone sweat dropped at this comment.

"You **_hope?!_**" everyone exclaimed disappointedly.

"Look, we've been walking for hours! You can't expect me to be able to get us to Auntie Siberia's at such a fast rate! I'd have to be such a freaky genius to be able to accomplish that!" Maxwell argued.

"Um… Maxwell? You **_are _**freaky genius," Hamtaro pointed out. Before anyone could do anything to reply, the doors creaked and someone short and stumpy with weird spectacles walked out of the rundown house.

"Oi, oi! You! The lot of you!" the little dwarf shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards the Ham-Hams. He walked down from the steps of the house and scolded them, "What do you think you're doing here?! Are you trying to steal something?!"

"Wha?! No, no, nothing like that!" Hamtaro protested, waving his arms wildly.

"Oui! We only came here because we thought thiz waz ze HQ Lab where Auntie Ziberia lives," Bijou protested along with Hamtaro.

"Siberia, huh? Chobin has never heard about Siberia having so many friends…" the dwarf, revealing himself to be Chobin, said.

"You know about Siberia?" Pashmina asked.

"But of course! Siberia is a good friend of Chobin! If Siberia has this many friends, Chobin would know straight away!" Chobin stated proudly.

"So, you know my mom?" asked Sandy.

"_M-matte! **You **_are Siberia's **_daughter_**?" Chobin's spectacles almost came off at that statement and Chobin began to laugh. "Wahahahahahaha! You are making Chobin laugh! Chobin finds this utterly hilarious! Wahahaha!"

"What's so funny??!!!" Sandy screamed.

"Do you have a problem with Sandy being Siberia's daughter or something?!" Maxwell argued.

"Indeed Chobin does! Siberia has never, and Chobin means, **_never _**told Chobin about a daughter named Sandy! All Siberia has ever told Chobin about is her son, Stan. Siberia even brings her son here sometimes to visit Chobin and Kaminko. That Stan is such a cutie, Chobin finds! He's even cuter than you, Sandy! Wahahaha!" Chobin laughed.

"Why you…!!" Sandy wished she could've gone up to Chobin and give him one tight slap across the face but Maxwell was restraining her so that she wouldn't do anything to start a fight. "Stan and I are like, **_twins_**! If you're saying that he's cute, then I am like, totally cute too!"

"Twins? Let Chobin think for a while… Hm… Nope. Chobin finds that Stan shares no similarities with you whatsoever. The only things that are the same are the fur pattern and the stripes, but nothing other than those."

Now the Ham-Hams were getting **_really _**confused.

"Hah? Don't Stan and Sandy share the same fur colour and stripe colour?" Panda asked, baffled.

"Hm? No, Chobin does not think so."

"…" Sandy sighed and asked, "OK, putting that aside, could you like, tell me why it's so hilarious to discover that I am Siberia's daughter?"

"Chobin shall put it simply: You, Sandy, shall never have a place in the Tiger family!"

A sharp gasp escaped everyone's lips.

"_DOSHITE??!! _AM I NOT BORN INTO THE TIGER FAMILY?!" Sandy demanded, tears forming in her eyes.

"DO NOT SHOUT AT CHOBIN LIKE THAT! YOU **_ARE _**BORN INTO THE TIGER FAMILY, IT'S JUST THAT YOU BEAR NONE OF THE DISTINCT TIGER FAMILY TRAITS!!!!!!!!" Chobin screamed at the top of his voice.

"Family… traits…? What do you mean by-?" Sandy was cut off when another voice boomed in.

"Chobin! What is the meaning of all your shouting?!" Kaminko's voice demanded, appearing from behind Chobin.

"Oh, Kaminko! Well, Chobin chanced upon these meddling kids here, saying that they know of Siberia. One of them, this girl here, even claims to be Siberia's daughter! Don't you find that utterly amusing, doctor?" Chobin chuckled.

"Daughter of Siberia… huh? Looks like Stan will be in for a very harsh time later on…" Kaminko muttered under his breath, hoping that no one caught it. Unfortunately, though, everyone could hear what he had said.

"_Chotto matte! _How the heck are all of you related to my brother anyway?!" Sandy asked.

"You'll understand… soon enough, Sandy dear. Chobin!" Kaminko ordered.

"Yes, doctor?" Chobin asked innocently.

"Take care of these children! I need some peace and quiet for my work to be done!"

"Aye, aye, doctor! Straight away, doctor!" Chobin obeyed and turned to face the Ham-Hams. "You may seem like decent kids, but Chobin has been given an order to teach you a lesson. At first, Chobin thought that you were burglars and should've proceeded with the battle, but you have interrupted Chobin. Now, Chobin shall challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" Chobin declared, raising his fist in the air.

"A… a… Pokémon battle…?" Hamtaro whimpered. "Isn't that… banned by the government?"

"You must be from the banned land! Well, here in Orre, law is different! Pokémon battles are warmly welcomed! Now, we shall begin! Who shall challenge Chobin first?"

"B-b-b-b-b-b-but… W-w-w-w-we… don't have any Pokémon with us…" everyone whimpered.

"Oh, is that so? No matter! Chobin still has to teach you kids a lesson! Go, Sunkern!" Chobin ordered as he threw his Sunkern's PokéBall. The Sunkern popped out from the Ball, squealing in excitement. "Sunkern, let's teach these little children a lesson they won't forget!"

"Okay!" Sunkern replied excitedly. Sandy's ears perked up straight.

"Huh?" Pashmina noticed Sandy's ears' swift movement and asked concernedly, "Sandy-chan, _Daijoubu?_"

"Huh…?" Sandy replied nervously, sweating profusely. "A-ah… _Daijoubu… Demo… _I could've sworn I heard that Pokémon talk…"

"I think you must have heard wrongly."

"Yeah… I guess I did…"

"Oi!" Chobin yelled out, getting their attention. "Do not ignore Chobin when in middle of match!" Chobin turned to face his Sunkern which was hopping happily. "Sunkern, give them the Absorb attack!"

"Okay!" Sunkern replied, still smiling and giggling away. Sandy could still hear the Pokémon talking but tried not to pay any attention to it. Sunkern was inhaling deeply, gathering some energy, and was about to use Absorb on the Ham-Hams when a voice yelled for it to stop. Sunkern drifted off into a trance-like state and obeyed.

"Eh? Who is so daring to be interrupting Chobin's match?!" Chobin yelled in his occasional poor grammar.

"**I am**," a familiar but firm voice echoed through the trees. A shadowy figure jumped from branch to branch and finally jumped down right in front of Chobin. Upon realizing who it was, Chobin backed off, grabbing his mesmerized Sunkern.

"S-S-S-S-S…" Chobin gasped out. The figure held up his paw to signal to Chobin not to say out his name.

"**Do. Not. Reveal. My. Identity**," the figure ordered in his echoed voice. Then, the figure muttered to Chobin under his breath, "Got that, Chobin?"

"G-g-got it… Just don't do that echoey ordering thing on Chobin anymore… Chobin scared when you do that…"

"Hey! Don't ignore us here!" the Ham-Hams exclaimed, attracting the figure's attention. The figure turned around to face them and the Ham-Hams backed off upon realizing who it was. (A/N: Whoa, serous Dejá Vu here…)

"Aah! It's the Pure Boy!" the Ham-Hams shouted upon realisation. Stan sweat dropped anime style and looked down, shuffling his feet.

"Urgh… I **_hate _**it when they call me that…" Stan muttered under his breath disappointedly. Fortunately, though, the Ham-Hams didn't catch that and Pashmina blushed heavily.

"Oooooh!! The Pure Boy! And in the flesh too!" Pashmina squealed, making Stan blush and Dexter extremely jealous.

"Uh… right… Well, I'm not here to save you, you know," Stan stated coolly.

"Ooooh! You sound so dreamy when you say that!" Pashmina admired.

"You know, I'd really appreciate it if you could stop admiring me, because I've got one crazy fan girl too many. It's tough avoiding them every day of my life."

"That's all the more the reason why I should admire you even more!!" Stan blushed heavily but he hid his blush by looking away.

"UHHHH…. Yeah, whatever, Pashmina," Stan gasped and put his paws to his mouth, realizing what he had called her.

"Oooh! You said my name!!!" Pashmina's eyes stopped twinkling anime style for a moment. "Eh? You know my name?" Then, her eyes became sparkly again. "How cute!! You must know everything about me!! You must like me a lot!!" Stan's blush became even more and more evident and consequently, the blush became even more and more difficult to hide. Everyone, except Pashmina, noticed that Stan was blushing a lot and became awfully suspicious.

"Hey… How **_do _**you even know that Pashmina was Pashmina's name?" Dexter asked suspiciously.

"Yeah… and why are you blushing away like that?" Howdy asked just as suspiciously.

"And you know what's even more suspicious about you? You look a little like Stan and Sandy, Pure Boy. If that's even your name," Boss stated.

'_Oh no, this is not good. They're getting closer and closer to finding out my secret. If this conversation keeps up, I'm a goner!_' Stan concluded in his mind.

Before the Ham-Hams could get any closer to Stan in order to inspect him on a closer basis, a few leaves appeared from behind Stan.

Leaves that were **_spinning wildly_**.

Stan knew what Pokémon move that was. He turned to glare at Chobin. "Chobin, how could you?!"

"I-I'm sorry… But this is the only way to prevent them from discovering your secret…"

"You'll really be the death of me!" Stan exclaimed as he rushed to protect the Ham-Hams. The Ham-Hams noticed the spinning leaves (Razor Leaf) coming towards them and went out of the way, but Pashmina was too petrified to move. Her feet were rooted to the ground and she had no courage to move out of the way. Penelope was hiding behind Pashmina, screaming. Stan picked up speed and ran quickly in front of Pashmina, leaving behind a trail of white fire as he ran.

'_Is… is that… No, it can't be… Chobin does not believe it…_' Chobin thought. Stan was now in front of the terrified Pashmina, his arms outstretched, seeming totally prepared to take the attack for her. Noticing that Pashmina was on the brink of tears due to fear, Stan's lips curled to a tiny smile.

"_Daijoubu, _Pashmina-chan," Stan assured.

"Eh?"

"_Daijoubu, ah… Zetai…daijoubu ah._"

'_Th-those words… I remember… They were from Stan…!_' Pashmina thought, frightened. Pashmina looked up at Stan, still not really sure of his identity. '_What if… this **is **Stan…?_'

'_Not good… Not good at all… The family secret will be exposed if Stan gets hurt…_' Chobin thought exasperatedly. '_This is all Chobin's fault… Chobin shouldn't have acted like that… Chobin hopes that the family secret will be kept safe… And Chobin hopes that Stan will be safe too…_'

The leaves were moving faster and faster as they got nearer and nearer Stan. Pashmina held onto Penelope tightly, both of them screaming in fear. Bracing himself for the sharp leaves, Stan closed his eyes and gritted his teeth before letting out a painful cry.

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A/N: Whee… I love suspense. This chapter took a really long time to type out but I'm glad that I'm done. Now I can earn myself a relaxing bath and a fun time with the computer after which!

OK, some things to note here: One, I apologise for short chapters with lots of dialogue. Two, sometimes chapter titles do not match with chapter contents and I apologise for that. Three, this story seems to have nothing to do with **My Cupid Ain't Stupid! **which is an alternate ending to my Purifiers saga. This is because that is only an alternate ending. Usually, my own alternate endings have nothing to do with the real story whatsoever.

Do not flame me on that. I have already warned you.

Next chapter: The relationship between Tora and Siberia becomes estranged. What can Lunarina and Solarito do to help them, along with the help from their new team mate Makuhita?

_Kurayami: darkness__　 くらやみ_

_Okaa-san: mother__　おかあさん_

_Ja: then__　じゃ_

_Doshite?: Why?__　どして？_

_Zetai Daijoubu ah: It will definitely be all right. (I heard this in anime before, so if I'm wrong please correct me.) __　ぜ対　だいじょうぶ　あ_

Reviews are greatly appreciated. If you do not review, I shall not continue and you people will be left with a long cliffhanger.

You wouldn't want that now, do you?

So, review.

Just no flames or I'll flame you back. And mind you, I can get very insulting at times. I may not hesitate to say awful and mean things. If you don't want that, review **_nicely_**.

If I am rude, from the bottom of my heart, _gomenasai. _

Long story short, just review nicely.


	13. Is This Love?:Past

Author's Note: Yay, I got a review! If you're wondering why I'm so happy, it's because I need reviews to carry on with my stories. I can't have three hundred over hits and only over 10 reviews, now can I? So anyway, I also have to point out something EXTREMELY important: this story is not totally in line with the Gamecube games at all. I follow my own storyline mostly, due to the existence of Purifiers and all. The only similarity is the fact that the Shadow Pokémon incidents and those involved are taking place in Orre, and that's all.

Do not ever flame me on that. I might change the summary if you want.

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters. But there's something exceptional that I own here. It's totally obvious. You'll see later.

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Chapter 13 – Is This Love? (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Tora looked over his shoulder at Siberia. She noticed his stare at her and looked up to see what he was thinking about but Tora had already looked away by then. Folding his arms, Tora sighed frustratedly and leaned against the wall. Siberia gave him a frown and resumed her dinner, nibbling angrily. Within a few minutes, Siberia had finished up her dinner and went to bed straight away. It was Tora's turn to give her a huge frown and he just looked outside the window.

Lunarina and Solarito sighed exasperatedly, getting attention from their new team mate Makuhita. The Shadow Pokémon staggered over towards the Eeveelution siblings and plopped right down on the floor.

"What's up with **_you_**?" Solarito asked, slightly concerned about Makuhita's staggering.

"Yeah, you're like, staggering nowadays," Lunarina continued.

"…" Makuhita didn't reply.

"Oh right… Seeing that you're a Shadow Pokémon and all, I guess you aren't pretty much of a talker," Solarito stated sarcastically.

"… It's nothing like that…" Makuhita began. Shock and amazement was written all over Lunarina and Solarito's faces since they had never heard Makuhita talk before ever since he joined. "… Now… all I want to know… is… what's up with **_your _**Trainer?"

"What?! 'Your' Trainer?! Isn't Tora **_your _**Trainer as well?!" Lunarina argued, feeling very upset that Makuhita didn't regard Tora as his Trainer.

"Not till he Purifies me, he's not…" Makuhita explained and no one spoke for a few minutes. Makuhita broke the silence, "So… what's up with him…? Is he always like this?"

"_Eeto… Iie,_" Lunarina replied, thinking about the times she had spent with Tora. "_Doshite, _Makuhita-san?"

"I'm just plainly curious about the relationship between your Trainer and that girl…"

"_Sokka… Ja, _that's easy!" Solarito replied with a huge grin on his face. Being the Sun Pokémon, Espeon, his personality was also sunny and optimistic, though he **_could _**get quite sarcastic at some times. "Tora-kun and Siberia-chan are…" Lunarina and Makuhita leaned in to hear him whisper into their ears, "… just friends." Lunarina fell over anime style, while Makuhita scratched his head in confusion.

"Solarito…!!" Lunarina groaned in utter frustration. She got up swiftly and an anger vein popped on her forehead. "I should've known…!!!! That's such a lame answer!!!"

"_N-n-n-nani?! _Are you trying to say that I'm lame?!"

"Yes you are, you lazy toad! If a lame Pokémon doesn't answer with a lame answer, then that Pokémon has something screwy up in its brain!"

"Are you implying…" Solarito was really mad now. "… that **_I _**have…" Really really mad. "… some kind of **_mental problem_**?!!" Solarito's gem on his forehead glowed red with anger and he accidentally released a Confusion attack on Lunarina. Lunarina, however, being an Umbreon, was unaffected by the Psychic attack.

"That Confusion is proof of your unstable mentality, little brother, and don't forget, you are younger than I am," muttered Lunarina, resuming her calmness. An anger vein popped from Solarito's forehead. He was having this urge to just pounce on top of his older sister and scratch her till she was begging for mercy but Solarito was being restrained by Makuhita. Well, I wouldn't say using Shadow Rush would be a kind of restraint…

"Can't you two shut up for once and let me have a say?" Makuhita asked emotionlessly, withdrawing his shadowy aura after his attack.

"Fine, but don't forget, oh great older sister of mine, that you were only born 30 seconds before me," Solarito revealed, scowling a little.

"Whatever. I'm still older than you anyway." Avoiding her younger brother's pounce, Lunarina turned to face Makuhita. "_Ja, _what was it that you wanted to know or do?"

"I just wanted to know about the relationship between your Trainer and that girl. That's all. _Demo… _now I feel like doing something to get those two together."

Solarito sat up with a tiny bandage on his head and he stole a glance at his older sister. She was looking at him with an obvious glint in her eyes, lips curling to a tiny smile. Her rings were glowing with excitement and her tail began to wag like a dog welcoming its owner back home. It took a while for Solarito to know what Lunarina and Makuhita wanted and he, too, smiled along with his sister, with the exception of the Shadow Makuhita, of course.

**After a few hours…**

Tora opened his door, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Yawning like a yawn monster, Tora managed to mutter out, "What is it…?"

"_A-a-ano…_" a familiar voice whispered. Tora's ears perked up. He knew that voice. It was…

"Ah, Siberia-chan? What is it?" Tora stretched his arms lazily, giving out a huge yawn once more. "Ugh, do you even know what time it is…?"

"T-Tora-kun…" Siberia continued, not seeming to care about what Tora had commented. She was clutching onto her night gown tightly, a small wisp of her fur from her head falling to cover a bit of one of her eyes.

"Siberia? _Daijoubu desuka? _You look… scared."

"Oh, Tora…" Siberia looked up at Tora, her eyes watering. Even though it was dark at night, Tora could've sworn he saw a tiny tear drop from Siberia's eyes. The teardrop was glistening in the dark, one of the perfect symbols of a Purifier. "T-Tora…" Siberia couldn't take it anymore. She ran into Tora's arms, burying her face in his chest. "TORA! I… I… I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!!!"

"Hah?!" Tora exclaimed, taken aback by Siberia's sudden outburst. Seeing that Siberia was crying a little uncontrollably, Tora sighed and embraced the weeping Purifier. "Don't worry, Siberia-chan. Just settle down and tell me what happened, okay?" Siberia stopped her weeping and sniffed before looking back up at Tora. She was gazing into his soothing deep blue eyes and he was gazing into her beautiful auburn eyes. The close contact caused their hearts to beat quickly and a tingling sensation crept up upon their cheeks.

"A-ah…" Tora started, letting go of Siberia. "W-why don't you come in and tell me what happened?"

"_H-hai… Wakarimashita…_"

**Meanwhile…**

"Aw man! That was so close!" Solarito whined. "They were **_this _**close to confessing their feelings! You get me?! They were **_this _**close!!! Argh!!" Solarito complained while showing Lunarina and Makuhita his tail. The two split ends of his tail moved towards each other till they were almost one millimeter apart. It was to show how close Tora and Siberia were to confessing their feelings, like what Solarito had said.

"Sheesh, calm down, why don't you? Stop acting so immature," Lunarina reprimanded in a monotonous tone, using her left paw to pat Solarito hard. "And are you sure they were that close? I think you're exaggerating, little brother."

"Argh, I just can't take it anymore! He likes her and she likes him, but why can't they be together?!!" Solarito's ears perked up as soon as he heard sounds from the television. He looked up from his crouching position and stared hard at the television screen. "Um… Makuhita-san? What are you doing? A-and Lunarina, what are you doing with the popcorn?"

"We are watching a romance movie," Lunarina stated, handing her brother some popcorn. "Want some?"

"No thanks. I hate popcorn. Anyway, it was great of you to make Siberia have that nightmare, Lunar! You knew she'd go over to Tora as soon as she had that nightmare so you decided to get those two together using this nightmare method, isn't that right?" Solarito asked, referring to Lunarina by the nickname 'Lunar'.

"A nickname on top of a nickname, huh? I guess you're not all that hopeless just yet. And yes, you're right. Though I shouldn't say you're right, seeing that you're in this plan too."

"_Demo _how did you make that nightmare happen?"

"Simple. You are capable of making those Psychic dreams, aren't you? So let's just say that my hypnotic influence over you can get pretty useful at times."

Hypnotic influence? Oh no, Solarito knew what that was.

It was some kind of freaky bonding the two siblings had. Lunarina, being an Umbreon, had beautiful golden moon rings and Solarito, being an Espeon, had a shiny red gem on his forehead. Even though they were twins, they evolved at different times. Lunarina evolved before Solarito did since she was older than he was, making her lunar powers more powerful than Solarito's solar powers. Also, since Lunarina evolved during a full moon lunar eclipse, her lunar powers were already at their peak. Solarito evolved at noon sometime after Lunarina, when a solar eclipse took place as well, making his solar powers at their peak too. As a result, they attained the hypnotic influence ability. If Lunarina was using it at night, she would be able to hypnotise Solarito and if Solarito was using it at noon, he would be able to hypnotise Lunarina.

It was totally freaky when Lunarina first hypnotized Solarito.

"AWWW NO, YOU DIDN'T!!!!!" Solarito groaned in defeat as Lunarina sighed. Nevertheless, she had to agree that Solarito's telepathy and Psychic attacks were very useful.

**Back with Tora and Siberia…**

"… So…" Tora began, after Siberia filled him in. "So you had a nightmare about me dying… And it was caused by a Combusken, no less… Is that right?"

Siberia nodded.

"So you became all scared and crying because of a nightmare?"

Siberia nodded.

"Sigh… Well, it's not all that surprising. You **_are _**Siberia, after all…"

Siberia knocked him on the head.

"What did you say?!" Siberia scowled, an anger vein popping on her head.

"Well, seeing that you're still in the mood to hit me, I guess you're all right now, aren't you, Siberia-chan?" Tora asked with a smile, ignoring her words. The smile made Siberia blush like crazy and her heart beating quickly. Noticing that the usually cheerful Siberia wasn't replying with her usual smile, Tora asked worriedly, "Siberia-chan, _Daijoubu desuka? _Is it because of last evening?"

"A-ah, uh… erm… no, it's not…"

"Then why are you being so quiet? It's not like you."

"…"

"Siberia…?"

"… Frankly… I don't know anymore…" Siberia whispered under her breath, hoping that Tora didn't catch it. Siberia rushed out of Tora's room, thanking Tora for lending an ear as she left. The huge blush became very evident on Siberia's face and she couldn't stop her heart from pounding. Tora went out of his door, looking after the shy Siberia. He put his paw over his heart and felt it pounding. He then moved his paw onto his face and felt the temperature rising. Both of them were wondering what feeling it was that made them act the way they were.

_Could it be…?_

_Was that…?_

_Is this…?_

_Love?_

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A/N: Ah, okay, the last bit was in italics, right? That meant that both Tora and Siberia were thinking the same thoughts at the same time. This will be used in later chapters so don't ask me why they are in italics and other unnecessary questions. Oh yeah, I own the hypnotic influence thingy.

Seriously, I made that info all up.

Next chapter: Stan's secret is kept safe but he'll have to balance his normal life and his Purifier life in order to protect this secret. And it doesn't help when the Hams are on to him. It's even worse to deny his feelings for Pashmina.

_Iie: No __　いいえ_

_Doshite?: Why?__　どして_

_Sokka: I see__　そっか_

_Ano…: Um… excuse me? (It's a very polite way of getting attention from the person you want to talk to.)__　あの_

_Daijoubu desuka?: Are you OK? (Full way of saying it)__　だいじょうぶ　ですか？　_

_Wakarimashita: I understand__　わかりました_


	14. Is this Love?: Present

Author's Note: Geez, can't you people even send one tiny review? I'm not trying to sound all bad-tempered and stuff, but all I ask is for someone to review. I don't care whether they're flames or not, I'll continue all the more and improve on this story. If you have good things to say, don't hesitate to review but of you want to criticize then send criticism for all I care.

I just want people to review. Is that too much to ask for? Geez…

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 14 – Is this Love? (Present)

**Present…**

Everything was a standstill.

The Ham-Hams' eyes were glued to the leaves heading straight for Stan, while Chobin was too busy handling his Sunkern. Penelope was hiding behind Pashmina who was behind Stan. Stan's arms were still outstretched, protecting the pink-scarf girl. Stan's eyes reflected determination to protect the one he loved secretly as he was bracing himself for the spinning leaves slicing him to pieces.

One minute passed… Then two minutes… It went on till Stan realized that nothing happened. Nothing had happened at all. His eyes were shut tight at first but as soon as he realized what was going on, he opened one eye slowly, as if he wanted to take a look. When he saw the strange sight before him, his other eye opened swiftly due to shock. Pashmina looked from behind, hugging Penelope, while the Ham-Hams' faces had pure shock written all over. Chobin's eyes widened.

"N-no way…" Chobin muttered. His Sunkern whimpered a little as it tilted its head to face its Trainer, as if it were asking, "What's wrong?" Chobin looked down at his Sunkern. "Maybe… Has Stan…?"

"Wh-wha… What is this?" Stan couldn't believe what he was witnessing, and neither could the all the Ham-Hams. Stan let his arms fall back to their original position, and he realized that he was sweating profusely. Right before everyone's eyes…

… were the leaves themselves, still spinning no less, but spinning in _**mid-air**_. Right in front of Stan and the others.

"This… This can't possibly be done by me, can it?" Stan was gazing at Chobin, hoping that he could get an answer. "I-I mean, even with my powers, I can't possibly accomplish _**this**_!!"

"No, it's possible. At least, that's what Chobin thinks," Chobin replied.

"No way… The Pure Boy did this?" Pashmina's eyes sparkled again and soon, she was beginning to nuzzle Stan's fur. "Ooooh!! You are so cool! I didn't know that you could use psychic powers! That's so cool!"

Stan was struggling to get out of Pashmina's grasp, pushing her away from him. "Neither did I. Now could you _**please **_get off me?"

"Eh?" Pashmina instantly realized that she was giving Stan too much physical contact. She released her arms in embarrassment. "Ah! _G-g-gomenasai…_"

Stan was flushing by then. His heart was pounding and he couldn't deny the fact that he had wanted the intimate moment to last a tiny bit longer. He knew that he was blushing in front of everyone, but he couldn't control his emotions at that time. He really liked Pashmina a lot…

"W-whatever," replied Stan coldly as he jumped from his position and reached a thick mossy branch of a tree, which was amazingly still alive unlike the other dead trees, and resumed jumping away from there with incredible speed which he didn't know he had. To him, it felt like normal running speed but to the others below him, it was faster than anything they had ever seen. As Stan continued jumping towards the Pokémon HQ Lab, his figure slowly disappeared into the horizon.

"So," Chobin's voice gained everyone's attention away from the disappearing Stan. "Shall Chobin take you to your destination?

**The Pokémon HQ Lab…**

Somewhere in the park near the Pokémon HQ Lab, two figures were standing beside each other, watching Stan hop off one of the branches. Stan stopped dead in his tracks, and turned his head swiftly, looking in the figures' direction, but he couldn't see anyone since the figures were covered by the shadows. The figures, strangely enough, didn't tense up. Instead, they smiled grimly as they watched the young Purifier shake his head and rush into the automatic door.

"Did he just notice us, Kana?" one of the figures asked.

"I suppose so, Shimi. It's too bad that he still doesn't know the true power of his purity," the other figure replied.

"_Sokka, onii-chan_. Does this mean that we'll have to be very careful?"

"_Iie, imoto-san. _It just means that this is getting interesting…" the older figure, revealed to be Kana, grinned evilly. "_**Very **_interesting…"

Meanwhile, Stan hadn't the faintest idea that he was being watched by two weird guys, one named Kana and the other named Shimi. He rushed up the elevator and ran past his mother to reach his room. Siberia looked after him, wondering what had happened to her son. She walked carefully towards Stan's locked door and knocked on it.

"Stan?"

"Go away."

"What are you doing in there?"

"Nothing. Now, go away."

"I won't unless you tell me what happened." Siberia was only answered by silence. She hated it when her own son ignored her like that. "Stan, are you even listening to me?" There was no response again. "Stan!" Siberia was getting really frustrated. "Stan! Are. You. Listening. To. Me?!"

"The _**door's **_open. Don't you know that?" Stan asked coldly, emphasizing on the word 'door's'.

"Huh?" Siberia gave the door a slight push and it creaked open. A sweat drop appeared on Siberia's head anime style. "Oh." Siberia pushed the door open, and looked around. Stan's room was pitch black and she could only see the light creeping in from the lighted rooms behind her. Siberia felt around the wall for the switch and switched the lights on. The first thing she saw was her son lying on his bed with his face buried into his pillow, muttering some things to himself. A sweat drop appeared on Siberia's head once more.

"Sigh… Typical of you. Whenever you get problems, you'd just bury your head into your pillow and weep. Stan, I think you should act your age and stop clinging onto your past self," Siberia commented. "You _**know **_that crying or burying your head into a pillow won't solve anything, so why bother?"

"Because I have nothing else better to do, Mom."

"Even avoiding having a heart-to-heart talk with your own _okaa-san_?" Siberia countered back.

"Hm, that shall go under my 'Things to Avoid' list, then," Stan replied, his voice muffled. He raised his paw and pointed to apparently nothing and his arm plopped back onto the bed.

"Don't try to be funny," Siberia demanded, her paws on her waist, and her foot tapping impatiently.

"Oh, fine," Stan moaned as he sat up, holding the pillow to his face. He let go of the pillow, letting it drop to his feet, revealing his flushed face. "Well, you see Mom, I… I, uh… protected this girl, see, and I didn't know why I did it in the first place. Then I felt something weird… Like I wanted to protect the girl with all my life and erm…" Stan's blush went an even darker shade of red than before.

"Eh?!" Siberia gasped.

"Eh? _Nani?_" Stan asked, and his eyes blinked twice.

"Am I seeing something that I shouldn't see? My own son's face _**blushing like that**_?!"

"Hah?!" Stan put his paws to his face and realization dawned upon him that his face felt like he was having a high fever. "Oh no! It's still feeling warm and fuzzy!"

"Warm and fuzzy?" Siberia put a finger under her chin and she immediately realized what Stan meant. Soon she burst out into uncontrollable laughter and she laughed so much that her stomach hurt. "Oh… Stan… You… You have… no… no idea… what that… what that feeling is, right?!! Hahahahahaha!" Siberia asked between giggles and laughter, pounding the floor with her bare paws.

"Uh… Mom, _daijoubu desuka?_ Your laughter is making me all nervous since I've never seen you laugh like this before…" muttered Stan as he moved away from his mother uneasily, a sweat dropping.

"Oh, oh… It's nothing, really. It's just that you have no idea what this warm and fuzzy feeling is, do you?"

"Well, of course not."

"Do you want to know?"

"Well, duh."

"It's the feeling of…"

Siberia got cut off by another female voice which Stan instantly recognized, "Mama! We're here!"

"Isn't… that Sandy?" Stan asked Siberia. Siberia nodded as a response and walked out of the room, forgetting that she almost told Stan what feeling he was experiencing. Stan himself also forgot since he had no idea that the Ham-Hams were all there already. Stan looked down at himself. "AAAAAHHHH!! I forgot to change back to normal! I can't let them see me like this!" Stan focused his mind to turn back to normal and he did it quickly. And just in the nick of time too.

"Eh? Stan?" Sandy's voice rang out. "I like, thought I heard Stan's voice. Stan! Are you like, out here?!"

"Uh, yeah! I'll be out soon!" Stan ran out of his room and tripped over a leg of a chair, falling on his belly. "_Itai…!_" Stan got up from his fall, dusting himself. "Argh, I am never going to run out like that ever again…"

"Stan-kun, _daijoubu desuka?_" This voice made Stan blush again as soon as he recognized whose voice it was. He turned to look and saw the smiling face of the one and only Pashmina. "Ah, you seem to be alright. Yay!"

"…" Stan looked down, trying to get some parts of his fur to cover his eyes as well as his evident blush. Siberia was with the group and she noticed the blush on Stan's face. Siberia stifled her giggle, realizing what feeling she had forgotten to tell Stan about.

'_Sigh… Looks like Stan is in love with this girl Pashmina, huh? Well, Pashmina's not so bad. At least she's up to my standard of future wives for my dear Stan. She's beautiful, kind, selfless and puts relationships above other things. That's even better than a girl from a rich family! I can see why Stan likes her in the first place!' _Siberia thought happily to herself.

"Ne, Stan, do you want to hear about this weird thing that happened on our way here?" Pashmina asked out of the blue, making Howdy and Dexter jealous while Stan just blushed even more.

"H-huh? O-oh, sure, w-why not…?"

"Great! Come on! Let's sit down!" And with that, Pashmina took the initiative to grab Stan's paw and lead him to a nearby seat where he could sit down and listen to her story. As Pashmina grabbed Stan's paw, the blush on Stan's face went an even deeper shade of red, even to the extent of turning as red as fresh blood. Howdy and Dexter had the urge to pummel Stan but they were restrained by Boss.

"So, it was like this! We were on our way to this weird-looking building here, but on our way, we mistook a creepy rundown house for this place. A short, stumpy little guy appeared from the house and thought that we were going there to steal or something!" Pashmina narrated excitedly. "But then, I remember he said something about Sandy not being a true Tiger because she doesn't have the distinct Tiger family traits…"

"E-eh? Really?" Stan asked as his head looked up at her.

"Yeah, it was weird. Anyway, the guy, Chobin, decided to get rid of us by using a Pokémon but then, the Pure Boy came and rescued us from Chobin's tormenting Pokémon's dangerous spinning leaves! The Pure Boy is soooooo dreamy!" Pashmina's eyes sparkled and Stan's blush went away as soon as Pashmina talked about the Pure Boy, Stan's 'counterpart'. "Ooohh! I feel all tingly as I talk about the handsome Pure Boy! So, anyway, the Pure Boy used his special powers to stop those spinning leaves by screaming or something like that. And then, the Pure Boy vanished and Chobin offered to take us here and well, here we are!"

"_S-s-sokka_… So that's what happened, huh?" Stan confirmed disappointedly. Siberia noticed that Stan was getting very upset and was actually listening very intently to Pashmina's story.

"Stan…" whispered Siberia.

"Um…" Stan got up from his seat. "Pashmina, I got to go somewhere first."

"Huh? Where?"

"Just somewhere, where I can have some alone time to myself."

"Oh, okay."

Stan ran out of the automatic door of the Pokémon HQ Lab and tasted something salty drip into his mouth. Siberia attempted to chase after him but figured that Stan would probably be better off alone for a while. Stan continued running into the park and tripped over a rock in the process. He decided to sit down there and stop moving.

"Why… why am I crying?" Stan wiped away the tears with his arm. "She may be in love with the other me, but I'm still me. It just means that she likes me too… But then… What's this feeling of jealousy? Don't I _**want **_her to like me? Or is it because I don't want her to like the other me, but like this me instead. But I just don't get it. What's the difference!?" Stan yelled at himself, tossing the rock aside.

Meanwhile, Pashmina looked outside the window and saw the depressed and jealous Stan sitting under a tree and she could've sworn that she spotted tears from his eyes as he ran off like that. As she saw Stan cry, she felt a tug in her heart.

"_N-nani_? Why am I… feeling pain? Is it because I feel bad that I've hurt Stan's feelings somehow?" Pashmina whispered to herself. "And my heart… I don't know why or how, but my heart always beats so quickly every time I see Stan and the Pure Boy… Don't tell me that I like them both at the same time…! It can't be, can it? To fall in love with two boys at the same time?"

'_Stan… This feeling of pain that you are feeling… It is the feeling of denial. You have no idea that Pashmina is in love with you, no matter who you are, but then again, you thought that she liked the Purifier side of you. Stan, you have to realize that someday, things will turn out like this. __**Just like your father… and the prophecy.**_' Siberia thought worriedly.

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A/N: Oh please review! I never find a need to continue if I don't get any reviews!

Next chapter: Tora and Siberia move on to find more Shadow Pokémon. They encounter many surprises and problems along the way, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Will they overcome all problems and find a way to Purify the Shadow Makuhita?

_Gomenasai: I'm sorry__　ごめなさい_

_Sokka: I see__　そっか_

_Onii-chan: elder brother__　お兄ちゃん_

_Iie: No__　いいえ_

_Imoto-san: little brother ('san' can be omitted)__　いもとさん_

_Nani?: What?__　なに？_

_Itai…: Ow…__　いたい_

_Daijoubu desuka?: Are you OK?__　だいじょうぶ　ですか？_

The names, Kana and Shimi, are inspired by the Japanese word '_kanashimi_', meaning sadness and sorrow.　 かなしみ


	15. Let's Go!: Past

Author's Note: I am in a good mood nowadays, because I've got reviews for the previous two chapters! How great is that? You have no idea how delighted I was! For that, I shall update. Oh, yeah, before I forget, please check out the author's note at the end of this chapter. There's something really important I want to share with you. Tut, tut, don't attempt to figure out what it is. And don't scroll all the way down just yet. You'll just spoil the suspense.

_Arigatou gozaimasu _to **lupyne**-san for reviewing! The reviews have motivated me to touch the keyboard and begin typing this chapter!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 15 – Let's Go! (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Tora picked up his bag and headed towards the door. He rubbed his head with a bit of medicated oil, still complaining about the time when Siberia had hit his head. "Man, that girl can really hit hard. Well, I guess it's because she's Siberia," Tora casually commented.

"Excuse me, To-ra, but did you just say something about me?" a familiar voice rang out teasingly. Some of Tora's fur stood upright, even to the extent of tingling a bit. Siberia walked out from the door, arms folded. She was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Uh… No, Siberia-chan. I mean, eh heh, uh, who would, uh… say something _**bad **_about you?" Tora asked nervously.

"Uh-huh, yeah right. Like who would believe that, Tora-kun? So, anyway, where are we headed off to next?"

"Don't know, don't care. Why?"

"How can you not know where we'll be going AND not care about it?! Tora-kun, you know that we have to find all the Shadow Pokémon and save them from themselves, don't you?"

"In the first place, neither of us knows where to start looking for the Shadow Pokémon!" Tora argued back.

"Well, Mr. Know-it-All, why don't you try using your Purifier instincts to look for them, huh?!"

"I already told you, I am _**not **_a Purifier!"

"Yes you are, Tora! I know that you are one! And stop acting like a baby!"

"I am _**not **_acting like a baby, Siberia! You're the one who started the argument!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!!"

"Are too!!"

"Sheesh, with those two bickering all morning, I doubt my sister can get any sleep during the day," whispered Solarito into the Shadow Makuhita's ear.

"Ah," replied the Makuhita. Both Pokémon turned their heads towards the sleeping Lunarina. Her ears were folded down but they were shaking violently. She began growling in her sleep and accidentally unleashed a Secret Power attack. A sweat drop appeared on each of the Pokémon's heads.

"Remind me to never anger my sister," Solarito requested.

"Ah."

"And remind me," Tora began, standing behind the Pokémon. His fur was sticking out unevenly and his steps were unsteady. "to never anger Siberia." Tora then fell flat onto the floor and another sweat drop appeared on the Pokémon's heads.

"You deserved it, Tora! Fancy that; Arguing with a girl younger than you are. Honestly! Can boys get any more cowardly?" Siberia complained.

"Hey!" protested Solarito, Makuhita and the fallen Tora. Siberia and the sleeping Lunarina just smirked.

"So, Tora, where _**are **_we headed off to next?" Siberia asked once more.

"Well… cough… I suppose that we should stay here just in case a Trainer with a Shadow Pokémon turns up," Tora suggested. Everyone took his suggestion and decided to remain in Phenac City for the moment.

"Then why the heck are you carrying your bag, Tora?" Solarito asked curiously.

"It's simple, really. All I want to do is go and buy some supplies. I need more PokéBalls just in case the next Shadow Pokémon is a real tough one."

"Huh, maybe you _**do **_have something working up there after all," teased Siberia as she proceeded to flick her finger on Tora's head.

"Are you implying that I have no brains?" Tora asked, feeling slightly hurt.

"Actually, I did when we first met."

"Then you have no figure."

Tora got another smack on the head as a reply.

The next morning, Tora and Siberia were taking a nice walk around Phenac City. Tora was wearing a windbreaker and zipped it up. It was cold that particular morning so everyone was advised by the Mayor to wear extra clothing on top of their fur just in case it had gotten way too cold. Siberia was wearing a brown coat while Tora was wearing a black windbreaker. Tora had his paws in his pockets, and Siberia's paws were at her side. Even though he was already wearing something to keep him warm, Tora still felt weirdly cold, even to the extent of shivering.

"Tora-kun? _Daijoubu desuka?_" Siberia asked concernedly.

"A-ah…" replied Tora.

"_Demo, _Tora-kun, you're shivering…"

"I'm fine, Siberia-chan. Just a little cold…" And with that, Tora sneezed. He wiped away a small trail of runny mucus with his sleeve and sniffed. Siberia searched for a packet of tissue paper for Tora to use.

"I don't think you're just 'a little' cold. Here, wipe that disgusting liquid with this," ordered Siberia, tossing the packet of tissue paper to Tora. "And besides, the weather doesn't feel _**that **_cold. It's just a little chilly."

"But I feel terribly cold… in a weird way…"

"Weird, huh?" Siberia edged closer to Tora and whispered, "Define 'weird', Tora."

"Well, by 'weird', I mean that I feel like as if there's something that shouldn't be here. You know, like there's something… _**different **_about this place," And Tora sneezed again.

"Different…" Siberia's eyes narrowed to slits. "I wonder…"

"Huh? Did you say something, Siberia-chan?"

"Hah? Oh, uh, _nande monai…_"

"_Sodesuka?_ _Ja, _shall we be off?" Tora asked, stretching out his paw. "I've stored up on supplies. We should be able to leave Phenac City soon."

"Ah?" Siberia looked down at the paw, and blushed a little. "O-okay." She placed her paw on top of Tora's, and Tora gripped onto it.

"Okay, let's go, Siberia-chan."

"_Ch-chotto matte kudasai!_"

"Huh?" Tora turned to face a blushing Siberia. "Yeah? What?"

"Um… About the coldness you said just now…" Siberia began shuffling her feet nervously, and she was looking at her feet, trying to hide her blush. "I might be wrong, but it should be some kind of Purifier instinct, Tora… A-and it's the intuition of the Purifier which 'informs' the Purifier about nearby Shadow Pokémon…"

"…" Tora looked away sadly. He hated talking about the Purifier matter most of all, but he would sometimes force himself to listen to Siberia for her sake. "So that's it, huh…"

"Y-yeah… I think that you might've just sensed a Shadow Pokémon nearby…"

"One question, Siberia…" Tora looked up at the clear blue sky. "Why do I feel cold, then?"

"O-oh, it's very simple… Shadow Pokémon were created to cause evil and work for bad organizations… Other than that, their hearts and souls have become cold, and in their minds, they don't care about who or what they hurt, and only care about themselves. Because of this cruel mindset, Purifiers seem to have the innate ability to sense exactly where a Shadow Pokémon is by following a so-called scent of the evil Shadow Pokémon leave behind," explained Siberia like as if she were reading from a book.

"So that's why. And another thing, why don't _**you **_feel cold then?"

"Because I am not a whole Purifier. I already told you."

Before Tora could reply, a dark blast appeared from nowhere and blasted a nearby wall. The wall shattered to pieces, and due to the impact of the explosion, the pieces were blown off and were flying towards Tora and Siberia. The pieces fell on top of both of them, and they were soon covered by dust. Tora and Siberia began coughing away, and after that, they covered their mouths with their paws.

"H-hey! W-who did that?!" demanded Siberia.

"I did." A male hamster about twice the size of Tora or Siberia appeared. He was wearing a black top with green pants, and a pair of red and white sneakers with some of the dust on them. Silver and golden chains were left dangling from the pockets of the pants, and there was a golden earring on one of his ears. "So, you two are the Purifiers, yes?"

"Her, yes. Me, no," admitted Tora. Siberia had an anger vein popping from her head.

"What?!!"

"Shut up!" the gangster-like hamster cut in. "First things first, the name's Rosso. I belong to a troop that you should never learn of ever in your lives. Second thing, I'm sent here to exterminate the both of you. Third, don't think that I'll be easy to beat. That blasted wall is nothing compared to what my Pokémon can do to you…" Rosso chuckled sinisterly.

"I… I don't like the sound of this, Tora…" whimpered Siberia, who was clinging onto Tora's windbreaker. Tora blushed.

"So," Rosso continued. "Which of you shall challenge me?" Rosso eyed the panicking Siberia, and smirked. "How about the little cutie who's clinging onto her lifebuoy?"

"Eh?!" Siberia shouted in exasperation. "I don't have any Pokémon with me!"

"Well, that just makes my job of getting rid of you simpler then." Rosso prepared to send out one of his Pokémon, when Tora stepped in.

"Oi! What do you think you're trying to do?" Tora fished out one of his Pokémon's Balls, getting ready for a Pokémon battle. "Taking advantage of a girl, I see. How cowardly can a low-life like you get?"

"Why you…! Rrrrgh… Fine then! Let's see how smug you can get even after our fight!"

**Battle Mode**

"You'd better watch out, punk! My Pokémon will beat yours hands-down!" – Rosso

Mystery Troop Rosso would like to battle!

Rosso sent out Slugma!

Tora sent out Solarito!

**Solarito's Moveset **Lv. 34 (Boy)

Confusion

Quick Attack

Swift

Tail Whip

**Slugma's Moveset **Lv. 20 (Boy)

Ember

Smog

Rock Throw

Yawn

"Solarito, Confusion." – Tora

Solarito concentrated on a Confusion, and a small surge of psychic energy gathered at the jewel on Solarito's forehead. Solarito took aim at Slugma and unleashed his Confusion towards the Slugma, knocking the Slugma out. Rosso returned Slugma and sent out Spoink. Tora returned Solarito and sent out Lunarina.

**Spoink's Moveset **Lv. 20 (Boy)

Psywave

Psybeam

Splash

Odor Sleuth

**Lunarina's Moveset **Lv. 36 (Girl)

Bite

Faint Attack

Snatch

Thief

"Lunaraina, Bite attack!" – Tora

Lunarina charged towards the poor Psychic type Spoink which was totally vulnerable to a Dark type, like Lunarina, and its psychic attacks would be rendered useless. Lunarina used Bite on Spoink and totally knocked Spoink out. Rosso began cursing.

"Curse you, you brat! Fine then! I'll just terrify you and send you and your team members packing!" – Rosso

Rosso returned Spoink and took out another PokéBall. He tossed it and out came a Quilava. But the Quilava looked and behaved different from other Quilavas though… At this point of time, Siberia rushed up and put on her shades. She stared at the Quilava, concentrating her eyes on it.

"_Tora-kun, that Quilava's a Shadow Pokémon! You have to be careful! Do you have your Snag Machine with you?" – Siberia_

"Well, apparently, yes." – Tora

"_Did you sneak it out – again?" – Siberia_

"_**Uhm……**_" – Tora, sweat dropping

"_Remind me to both hug and slap you later." – Siberia_

"Right… Lunarina, be careful! That Quilava there is another of those Shadow Pokémon like Makuhita! You know how powerful their attacks can be, so take note of that!" – Tora

"I get your message, Tora!" – Lunarina

**Quilava's Moveset **Lv. 30 (Girl)

Shadow Rush

"Lunarina, go get it! Use Faint Attack!" – Tora

As Tora put on his protecting goggles, Lunarina disappeared for a while before appearing and attacking the Shadow Quilava. The Quilava fell on her belly and looked hurt, but she quickly recuperated and got up, charging towards Lunarina with a Shadow Rush. Shadow Rush strikes Lunarina hard and the shadowy impact nearly made Tora blind, even with his goggles.

"That's it, Quilava, keep on using that Shadow Rush! And crush your opponent with Shadow Rush, Quilava! Then we'll win!" – Rosso

There was a small glint in the Shadow Quilava's eyes. She stopped dead in her tracks, making Lunarina confused. The Shadow Quilava then resumed running, but with even greater speed than before. Shadowy aura surrounded the Shadow Quilava and Tora could already figure out what the Shadow Quilava was trying to do.

"Lunarina, get away and use Bite!" – Tora

Lunarina tried dodging the Shadow Quilava's incoming Shadow Rush and managed to do so. Lunarina faced the Shadow Quilava and used Bite on her. The Shadow Quilava fell down once more, only to get up quickly again. As the Shadow Quilava prepared to use another of her Shadow Rush, Lunarina ran as fast as she could to attack the Shadow Quilava on the face. Lunarina struck the Shadow Quilava with a small Tackle, and the Shadow Quilava fell once more, except this time, the Shadow Quilava took a longer time to recuperate.

"What?! Quilava, don't let your guard down! Use Shadow Rush and get rid of that annoying Umbreon of his!" – Rosso

The Shadow Quilava gathered up more strength to summon another Shadow Rush…

"Lunarina, Thief!" – Tora

Lunarina emitted a dark energy mist from her body and spun around, causing the dark energy to turn into a swipe. The swipe struck the Shadow Quilava and caused the Shadow Quilava to fall down once more. This time, the Shadow Quilava couldn't get up again.

"_Ima!" – Siberia_

Tora put on the Snag Machine, and allowed the energy to flow to him. A PokéBall appeared from the PokéBall symbol on the Snag Machine and Tora turned to face his left. He bent down and waited for the Snag Ball to complete its transformation from a PokéBall to a Snag Ball. As soon as he felt that it was ready, he spun around wildly, tossing the Snag Ball towards the fallen Shadow Quilava. The Ball hit and sucked in the Shadow Quilava and fell to one side. It began to shake.

One time… Two times… Three times… Stop.

"Gotcha! The Shadow Quilava is caught!" – Tora

Tora defeated Rosso!

"W-what? H-h-how can this be? Quilava has never lost to any newbie before!!" – Rosso

Tora got $1,400 for winning!

**Battle Mode off**

"NOOOOO!!!" cried Rosso as he kneeled to the ground and began hitting the floor. "Why?! I have never lost this badly before!!!"

"Um, do you think we should help him out?" asked Siberia.

"Nah, leave the guy be. He deserved it," replied Tora.

"Which reminds me, To-ra…" Siberia glared at Tora. "You still owe me 2 full weeks of doing the chores at our temporary homes. Now that you have committed the same crime, I shall add 2 more weeks to your punishment."

"Wh-what? But that's not fair… Siberia!!" moaned Tora.

"Sigh… You'll never learn, will you? By the way, in case I forget sometime, there's something very important I have to tell you, Tora-kun."

"Huh?" Tora thought about it and started harbouring thoughts about Siberia admitting that she liked him. He also thought about their marriage, and even thought about naming their children. Just thinking about it made Tora's face increase in temperature rapidly. In fact, he was blushing so heavily that he was perspiring already. "S-sure. Tell me."

"Okay, I needed to tell you…"

'_This is it…'_

"… that I have discovered…"

'_It's the moment I've been waiting for! The moment of the confession that ties us together!'_

"… that there's a way to Purify the Shadow Makuhita you Snagged."

Tora fell down anime style.

"Oh, that's all? O-okay then…" sighed Tora, feeling slightly upset and embarrassed.

"Huh? What do you mean? Oh, never mind. The point is that there's one way to Purify the Shadow Makuhita you Snagged. That way is to spend some time with it and use it frequently during battles. That's all I know about Shadow Pokémon so far though, but it's better than nothing."

"Yeah, better than nothing. Come on, let's go. We have to pack up and get out of here before everyone in Phenac City hears about us beating this guy," suggested Tora.

"_Hai, _Tora-kun!" And with that, Tora and Siberia made their way back to their temporary homes, getting ready for the real adventure that was beginning to unfold.

The jouney's just begun.

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A/N: That's all, folks! I kinda had to rush through this because I am being ordered to go to sleep. Ugh… I could've written more, but I couldn't. _Gomenasai…_

Next chapter: Stan has to venture to Agate Village to learn more about Purification of Shadow Pokémon. However, as he starts his journey, his friends begin to suspect him more. How will Stan make it to Agate Village with his friends watching his every move?

Hint no. 4: Stan's true enemy appears to be Cipher at the moment, but his true enemy is someone very close to him…

_Daijoubu desuka?: Are you okay?__だいじょうぶ　ですか？_

_Nande monai: It's nothing.__　なんで　もない_

_Ima: Now__　いま_

_Sodesuka?: Is that so? __　そですか？_

_Chotto matte kudasai!: Oh, please wait for a moment!__　ちょっと　まって　ください！_

The important announcement I want to make today is that I plan to make this a 100-chapter story. How does it sound? Is it too ambitious? One day, after school, studying and loads of homework, I decided to do a chapter plan for this story. I tried fitting everything into mere 30 chapters, but it ended up being 100 chapters.

So, comments on chapter count, people. I really want to hear your comments. Should this story be shorter than 100 chapters, be exactly 100 chapters, or exceed 100 chapters? I have no problem with the last two options but I'll have some minor problems about the first option since I have to think about squeezing everything into shorter chapters.

Comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you for wasting at least 3 minutes of your life reading this announcement.

Nah, just kidding about the last bit. (smiley face)


	16. Let's Go!: Present

Author's Note: Okay, people, I have decided that I shall make this story to a 100-chapter story. Reason being, **lupyne**-san has given me some encouragement to make this 100 chapters, and after planning here and there, I have also arrived at a decision to make this story a 100-chapter worth one. I hope everyone is happy!

Any violent objections? No? Yay!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 16 – Let's Go! (Present)

**Present…**

Siberia had noticed that her son returned to the Pokémon HQ Lab sullenly, and that he cooped himself in his own room for the rest of the afternoon. When he came out from his room, Siberia would ask him to spend some time with his friends, but he just plainly told her that he needed a glass of water before heading off to his room again. Siberia knew that Stan was quite confused with his emotions and tried to give him some time to think it through, but it seemed that Stan's case would need much more than just some time.

Stan, on the other hand, was doing nothing except stare at the ceiling throughout the entire time he was in his room. He had locked the door to prevent anyone from coming in, and he didn't let any of his Pokémon out of their Balls to prevent them from disturbing him temporarily. He put his paws behind his head and lied down on his pillow, feeling a soft and comfortable sensation. Sighing away every now and then, Stan tossed and turned to get to a comfortable lying arrangement. However, nothing seemed to work on him. He had been thinking about Pashmina all day and couldn't get his mind off her.

Just _**what **_was he feeling?!

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!**

"Stan-kun?"

Stan opened his eyes, and turned to look at the door, listening very intently to the voice coming from outside.

"Stan-kun?"

Not being able to bear hearing her voice for any longer, Stan snatched his pillow and brought it to the back of his head, covering his ears in the process.

"Stan-kun, what are you doing in there?"

"Go away, Pashmina, you're bugging me," Stan's muffled voice replied.

"H-huh?"

"I'm not going to do anything foolish or anything. I just want you to go away and leave me alone. I'll be fine in here; I just want to think about something."

"_D-d-demo…_"

"_Haiyaku, _Mafura-san…"

Pashmina gasped a little. Stan had called her 'Mafura-san', which he had never done before. Mafura was Pashmina's last name and only those who were not close to her would call her 'Mafura-san', but Pashmina barely had any friends who would call her that. Now Stan had broken that record. He was the first one in the Club to ever call Pashmina by her last name. For some reason, Pashmina felt a slight tug in her heart, for she knew that Stan and she were never going to be as close as they were before.

"_H-hai…_" Pashmina replied sadly, leaving the young Purifier in his room.

Tears fell from the pink scarf girl as she did.

Many hours had passed since Stan's sudden cold attitude towards Pashmina, but soon none of the Ham-Hams cared as they were having a lot of fun doing simulated battles on the Battle System in the Pokémon HQ Lab. Afternoon turned into evening, and evening turned into night time. The boys, with the exception of Stan of course, were having a sleepover at Hamtaro's while the girls were having a sleepover at Bijou's. The boys at Hamtaro's were having yet another pillow fight, except Maxwell and Snoozer most definitely. The girls, however, were talking about their future.

"Did you know," Sandy began, "that Oxnard gave me another fortune telling, and told me that one day Maxwell and I will be together?"

"Oooooohhhh!!" the other girls cooed.

"Didn't he give any fortune telling to you girls?" Sandy asked curiously.

"Vell, he did to moi!" Bijou stated excitedly. "He said that Hamtaro shall one day tell me something important! I vonder what it could be? I cannot wait!"

"Yeah, yeah! Big brother Oxnard told me too! He told me too! He said that one day I'll meet a boy as shy as I am! Yay!" Penelope squealed happily.

"Well, good for you, Penelope!" Pashmina encouraged.

"Ne, how about you, Pashmina?" Sandy asked.

"What, me? Oh… he, um, said that I'll encounter many problems in my love life, that's all. Nothing too serious, and nothing to worry about." Pashmina noticed all of the shocked and worried stares directed at her. She then assured the girls, "Don't worry, my friends! I'll just let fate decide who will get me in the end. I don't really care who; I just want someone who will love me for who I am, but right now, I think I'll just spend some time with my friends!"

"Well… If that's what you want, Pashmina…" Bijou sighed.

"So, Pashmina!" Penelope started. "Who do you _**really **_like? Huh? Huh? Huh?? I wanna know! I wanna know!!!"

"Okay, okay, settle down, Penelope, and then I'll tell you who I really like!" Penelope stopped hopping around. As Pashmina was about to begin her confession, her face became very red. "W-well… I kind of like… Erm… Well, let's put it this way. The boy I like is…"

The girls leaned in to hear Pashmina confess who she really liked.

"Is… I-i-is…"

Pashmina noticed the curious and delightful looks on the girls' faces. They were about to giggle even though Pashmina still hadn't confessed. Pashmina turned even redder.

"TheboyIlikeisStan!!!!" Pashmina screamed. The girls blinked for a second, trying to catch what the pink scarf girl had just said. Sandy, being the one who managed to recognize the name Pashmina shouted, gasped. Her eyes widened.

"I can't believe it!!! YOU LIKE MY BROTHER??!!!"

That night seemed like heaven for the boys over at Hamtaro's, but it was the opposite for the girls. The boys all managed to get some sleep quickly due to their exhaustion from playing so hard during their pillow fight, but the girls, especially Pashmina, couldn't even get a wink of sleep due to Pashmina's sudden confession that she liked Stan. Pashmina practically went on her knees to beg her girl friends to not tell anyone else about it, especially Stan. They reluctantly agreed to Pashmina's request.

Morning soon arrived, and everyone at the Pokémon HQ Lab woke up to a bright sunny day. The main chef, Kuuku, was whipping up a delicious breakfast for everyone who lived at the Pokémon HQ Lab, and was hoping that they would all awaken to have a sumptuous breakfast before carrying on with their research on Shadow Pokémon once more.

"Yaaaawwwwnnn…" Sandy yawned as she walked to her mother's bedroom. Sandy rubbed her eyes tiredly, but she couldn't see Siberia in her room. Sandy then dragged herself over to the kitchen and saw Kuuku cooking something that smells great. Sandy took a whiff and felt rejuvenated. She then proceeded to look for her mother, and finally found her in one of the research rooms, discussing something with another professor. "_Ohayo, okaa-san!_"

"Eh?" Siberia turned to face the doorway, and saw her daughter standing there with a bright smile on her face. Siberia smiled back. "Why, _ohayo, _my little Sandy-chan. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"_Hai!_" Sandy then noticed the professor working diligently on his computer, and he seemed as though he was tapping every single button on the keyboard. "Eh? _Okaa-san, _what are you doing in here? And who's that?"

"Oh, I'm discussing something very important with Datan here. I'm sorry, Sandy-chan, but you can't stay in here for a while. Why don't you go play with your friends while I discuss something with Datan, OK?" Siberia asked sweetly, shoving Sandy a little.

"Well… alright." Sandy went out and the door automatically closed. However, Sandy didn't leave. She stayed behind as she wanted to eavesdrop on her mother and Datan to see why Siberia wanted to chase her out.

"Siberia-chan…" Datan began.

"Yes?"

"Don't you think it's time to tell your son, Stan, the truth?"

"About what, Datan?"

"You know, the truth about Shadow Pokémon. What else is there? I know you told him that Shadow Pokémon were created because their hearts have been artificially sealed away… but have you told him anything else other than that?"

"… No, I haven't. You're right, Datan. Maybe it _**is **_time for Stan to know the truth. We still have to keep the truth about his true form from those Ham-Hams, though."

"That goes without saying, Siberia."

"And most importantly… I can't ever let Sandy know the truth…"

Sandy heard everything. She didn't understand what was going on. Stan's true form? What _**were **_they talking about? Sandy was already as confused as she was. She couldn't go on listening to the weird conversation any longer. She rushed off to find the Ham-Hams and decided to discuss it with them. She found them playing in the park outside the Pokémon HQ Lab and went over to them, telling them every single thing in the conversation.

"Are you sure, Sandy? In the first place, it's not polite to listen to other hamsters' conversations," Hamtaro stated the obvious.

"I like, know it is not polite, but I just wanted to know why _Okaa-san _and _Onii-chan _are acting so differently here," Sandy explained.

"Maybe…" Maxwell said. "Maybe both Stan and Auntie Siberia are hiding something from you – no – _**all **_of us."

"But why would they do that? We're family. There aren't any secrets in a family!"

"Maybe it's different for your family, Sandy," Panda spoke.

"But I don't understand this! What is so important that only Stan can know and not me? Stan and I are like, twins! No one can use age as a sorry excuse!"

Before anyone could reply, the PA system scratched a little and soon revealed a voice, which belonged to Siberia, that said, "Stan? There's something important I have to tell you. Please come up to Datan's room immediately. Oh, and as for the Ham-Hams and Sandy, you are not permitted to attend this meeting. The reason is top secret. Thank you."

"See? _**Now **_do you believe me?! My own mother isn't allowing me, her daughter, to attend this meeting of hers! Just who does she think she is?!" Sandy complained.

"Uh… Your mother?" Hamtaro stated dumbly.

"Aaaarrrrrggghhh!!!" Sandy groaned.

"Okay, to prevent Sandy from dying from anger, I suggest that we should go up there and spy on them like what Sandy did. That way, we get to know what is happening and not let them know that we know!" Boss suggested, and everyone took it.

Meanwhile, Stan was the last one to reach Datan's room. The door behind him closed automatically and Siberia motioned for Stan to walk up to her. Stan did as he was told to do and he looked up at his mother. There was deathly silence all around them, and Stan broke it by saying, "So, Mom, what do you want to talk about?"

Stan was surprised when Siberia kneeled down before him in order to look at him straight in the eye. Siberia's paws were gripping onto Stan's arms tightly.

"Stan… There is something important I have to tell you…"

"… Yeah?"

"You know about Shadow Pokémon, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then do you have any idea how to rescue them from their shadowed states?"

"Well, all I can think of is Snagging them from the Trainers who had them and keep the Pokémon with me at all times."

"That's one way, my son."

"What are you talking about, Mom?"

Siberia let go of Stan and got up. She tapped onto something into the computer and showed Stan a map of some sort. Stan stared at it, feeling awfully confused. "Stan, do you know what this is?"

"Uh… a _**map**_?"

"Well, _**duh**_. I mean, _**what **_kind of map is it?"

"Uh… A small-scale map which shows a large area of the Earth's surface with few details?"

Siberia fell down, anime style. "No, Stan, this is _**not **_Geography lesson!"

"Then why are you showing me a map for?"

"To show you the different parts of Orre! What else?"

"_Sodesuka? _That's what you're trying to tell me? To show me a small-scale map of Orre?"

"Well… you're almost right. Anyway, this map of Orre will guide you through your journey over the lands. It's very concise and clear so you should be able to manage on your own to go in search for the Shadow Pokémon and…"

"_Matte! _Are you saying that you're _**actually **_allowing me to go venture Orre?!"

"Yeah…"

"Really?! _Domo arigatou gozaimasu, okaa-san!!!!_" Stan shouted happily as he jumped towards Siberia with open arms, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her back. "Why the sudden decision, Mom?"

"Because I have seen your battling skill, Stan, and I believe that you'll be able to manage this important mission on your own. Well, maybe not on your own; Along with your Pokémon too, frankly speaking. You'll be fine, I suppose?"

"Of course I will!!!"

"Then I'm very glad to hear that from you. Now, here are some main focuses of the mission to help you get your mind on task. Firstly, you will venture to Orre to try and find Professor Krane. Secondly, you will venture to Orre to find and Snag the Shadow Pokémon. Thridly, you will venture to Orre to find out what Cipher is really up to. And lastly…" Siberia tapped some buttons and the computer shut down. A device came out from one of its slots. Siberia inserted it into another cool-looking device. "You have to go and find out the true potential of your power. Here, take this with you, Stan."

"What's that?"

"It's called the PDA."

"Why the asterisk?"

"PDA stands for Pokémon Digital Assistant. You will be able to look out for the many cool functions it has, including the functions to look at the map of Orre and receive e-mail. I'll be handing it to you in case you ever need it, Stan. Are you clear about the focuses of the mission?"

"Most definitely, Mom."

"Good. Then your first destination is Agate Village. It's located near Kaminko's house. Go there and look for someone named Eagun. He'll teach you everything you need to know about Shadow Pokémon. Stan… The fate of the Pokémon World used to depend on your father and me… but I think it now depends on you."

"… _Wakarimashita, okaa-san. _I'll go over to Agate right now."

"Please Stan… come home safely one day."

"I will." And Stan gave his mother a reassuring smile. "You can count on it."

The Ham-Hams who had listened to everything went over to hide somewhere as Stan exited the room. They never came out of their hiding spot till Stan was totally out of sight. Now they knew everything except for the fact that Stan was a Purifier and that Stan is the 'Pure Boy'. All they knew was that Stan had mysterious powers and that he was a Trainer. They mistook Stan as some hidden hero within so they have decided not to tell Siberia that they 'knew'.

As Stan went out of the Pokémon HQ Lab, he spotted a scooter parked nicely outside. It had a note on it and Stan read it, " '_Dear Stan, as you will be facing harsh trials up ahead, I have decided to give you this scooter. It used to belong to your father when we went travelling together. Now I will pass it on to you. Use it when you need to travel around Orre. It's yours. Love, your mother Siberia._'"

Stan put the note nicely away in his bag which he had packed. He got on the scooter and transformed into his Purifier image. He started the engines and sped off into the southern direction. Siberia looked after him with a smile on her face.

"You two really _**are **_alike… Tora and Stan."

Stan's journey has yet to begin!

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A/N: So, how is it? Good? Bad? I added a few dark parts and humorous parts. So how is it this time? Comments, please! _Onegai!!!_

Next chapter: Tora and Siberia learn about Purification of Shadow Pokémon. Siberia is a Purifier but since she isn't a full one as she has not tapped into her Purity, it's all up to Tora to Purify the Shadow Makuhita and Shadow Quilava. Will he do it even though he claims he's not a Purifier? Will he actually discover that he _**is **_a Purifier from this matter?

_Demo…: But…__　でも_

_Haiyaku: Hurry up__　はいやく_

_Okaa-san: mother__　おかあさん_

_Onii-chan: elder brother__　おにいちゃん_

_Domo arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you very much!__　ども　ありがとう　ございます！_

_Wakarimashita: I've understood__　わかりました_


	17. The Law of Purification: Past

Author's Note: Oh yeah, if you've read my profile, I am going to introduce to you my 'split personalities'. They are Kurayami Shadow (but just call her Shadow) and Rimu Aritia (but just call her Aritia). There is more information about Shadow and Aritia in my profile so check it out, okay?

Shadow: Hi. Don't bother me.

Aritia: Hihihihihihihihi!!!! Don't mind Shadow; She's always mean.

Okay… So, carrying on before those two get into a fight again…

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 17 – The Law of Purification (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Paws supporting the back of his head, Tora walked on leading Siberia. He felt the sand on the ground scratching his feet, but he didn't mind, for the sand felt both painful and smooth. His cape was blown along with the wind, and his goggles were secured tightly. Siberia was gripping onto her own arms, forcing herself to follow Tora to their next destination in Orre. She should've never agreed to walk with Tora by foot; It had hurt so much to walk in such a hot desert in the middle of nowhere.

Then, it happened.

The wind was getting stronger. And the sand the wind carried got even more and more. It blew against Tora and Siberia's faces, dirtying their faces with tons of sand. Tora brushed the sand away, and Siberia almost shed tears due to the suffering she was going through. The wind became even stronger. It howled, and brought more sandy friends with it. Tora stopped dead in his tracks, and glanced over at the east. Siberia stopped behind him, scratching her feet. Tora felt the sand at his feet getting carried away, and immediately knew what was happening.

A sandstorm was beginning to brew.

"Siberia-chan, when do you want me to ride you to our next destination?" Tora asked suddenly. "I see that a sandstorm is beginning to brew, and if we don't get out of here quick, we'll get caught in the sandstorm."

"…" Siberia looked up, and her eyes narrowed to slits. An anger vein was popping out and steam was evident from her ears. Boy, was she fuming mad… "You only realized it NOW?! Geez, Tora! I've been _**dying **_to ride that darn scooter of yours! So get me to our next destination pronto! With the scooter this time!!"

"Alright, alright! I get the point! Sheesh, girls these days…"

"What was that??!!" screeched the dirtied Siberia.

"N-nothing, Siberia-chan." Siberia just glared after him. Tora nervously proceeded to heat up the engines of his scooter, and went over to Siberia to help her up on the scooter. As Tora put his paws on her waist to carry her up like as if she were a child, Siberia felt her cheeks flushing, but she accepted it. For she no longer denied that she had feelings for Tora.

"Is something wrong, Siberia?" asked the voice who always made Siberia's heart flutter. Siberia blushed even more, and Tora noticed the 'sudden' change in Siberia. She went from bad-tempered to being totally embarrassed.

"Well, uh, no. O-of course nothing's wrong, Tora-kun," stammered Siberia, putting a paw to her heart. She felt it beating so quickly that she was starting to get nervous when she was around Tora at that time.

Tora raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes I'm sure, you blockhead! Since when am I unsure of my own answer?!" Siberia retorted, recovering from her lovey-dovey status, and regaining her usual composure. "Now hurry up, and let's get on with it! I don't want to get caught in the sandstorm!"

"OK, OK, just take it easy, will you? I'm doing my best here."

As the sandstorm began to buffet the twosome, Tora's scooter was all ready to go, and Tora started speeding off into the western side. In the meantime, the sand beat against Tora and Siberia's faces once more, this time almost causing the rider to lose control due to the sand covering his goggles. Fortunately, Tora had stopped his vehicle to wipe off the particles on his goggles and then, resume moving towards a certain tiny village.

Tora got off his scooter upon reaching the village, and stretched his arm out, landing a paw to Siberia, causing the latter to blush like mad. She took the paw and he helped her off. Tora parked the scooter somewhere else and rushed back and stood beside Siberia. Siberia, who had recovered from her lovey-dovey status, was somewhat mesmerized but joyous by just looking at their new destination. Tora tapped her shoulder but she didn't respond. She only responded when Tora began talking to her.

"So… This is where you were raised, weren't you, Siberia-chan?" confirmed Tora.

"Yes… Yes it is!" Siberia swished around, her arms flying around in excitement. Tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks, and she couldn't help but giggle at the same time. "Tora, do you know what this means? I can finally go home and see my _Ojii-chan _and _Obaa-chan _again! Tora…" Siberia grabbed Tora's paw and held it up to eye level, causing Tora to blush as much as she did before. "Tora, welcome to… Agate Village!"

"A-a-a-a-a-agate V-v-v-village, huh? S-s-s-sounds like a lot of… gulp… a lot of fun…" stammered Tora, now in a very bad case of love sickness. Siberia, however, was too overjoyed to notice that Tora was stammering.

"Yeah! Thanks, Tora-kun! I've been kidnapped from my home – which is here – and was about to be taken to Cipher's headquarters. Thankfully, you came along at Phenac City and stopped those goons that kidnapped me! _Demo… _I've never been able to go back home… all because there was no way for me to… Phenac is way too far from Agate… And I was in those goons' grasp for months… It took them months to get to Phenac and they had Pokémon with them, but I didn't have any Pokémon with me, so there was no way for me to get home…"

"S-Siberia…"

"And then, I knew at that moment when you saved me that you would be the one who would be able to get me home! For that, I am so grateful to you, Tora!!" Siberia cried, pulling Tora to a death hug. The close physical contact between the two made both of them go as red as a Chinese New Year red packet. Siberia let go of her grasp and cleared her throat. Tora just couldn't help but smile and avert his gaze at Siberia.

"Well, ahem… Er, shall we go and meet your grandparents?" Tora offered.

"Oh, uh, yes…"

Tora held Siberia's paw, and this time, neither of them blushed. They seemed to have gotten used to the fact that they would be having a lot of close physical contact between them in the near future. They walked up the slope and past some authentic huts. Siberia mostly led the way to her grandparents' house and they walked up yet another slope and Siberia pulled Tora to a larger hut than the rest.

"This is where I lived when I was young," Siberia stated.

"Nice place, Siberia."

"You're just saying that to please me, aren't you?"

"No, really, I mean it, Siberia. I mean, it's nice to live in a place like this."

"Well, how about less talk, and more walking?"

"Oh, right." Siberia knocked on the door, and awaited an answer. Tora and Siberia heard a loud crash, a vase breaking and some electricity sizzling. After the commotion, the door finally opened, revealing a female hamster with light grey fur and reading glasses. There were a few wrinkles on her face.

"Huh? S-Siberia?" the hamster muttered. "Siberia, is that really you?"

"Yes, _Obaa-chan_, it's me…" Tears were streaming down Siberia's flushed cheeks again, only this time, there were more tears involved. "It's Siberia here."

"Oh, Siberia, my granddaughter…" Siberia's grandmother hugged her long-lost granddaughter, and when the two pulled apart, Siberia's grandmother shouted, "Hey! Eagun! You won't believe this! Our little Siberia has returned!"

"Siberia?" A slightly raspy voice replied. "I'll be there in a second, my wife!" Even more vases breaking and more electrical sizzling could be heard, and Siberia, Siberia's grandmother and Tora all winced. "Oh, Siberia!"

"_Jii-chan!_" Siberia exclaimed happily, and hugged a male hamster with dark grey fur and reading glasses. He was wearing a purple coat. "I missed you and Grandma, _Jii-chan…_"

"Oh, we missed you too. In fact, we were worried sick! Those two guys suddenly made off with you! Why, I could've taught those two a lesson or two if my Pikachu hadn't made a trip to the Pokémon Hospital that day!"

"Nobody blames you, Grandpa, not even me. So get over it. I'm here, those goons have been scared off, so there's absolutely nothing to worry abo-!"

Siberia got cut off by her grandmother shouting, "Aah! Wait! There's a boy behind you, Siberia!"

"Huh? Oh, you mean Tora-kun?" Tora waved his paw.

"H-he's your friend?" Siberia's grandmother asked.

"Or your boyfriend?" teased Siberia's grandfather.

"_Jii-chan!!!!!_" retorted the half-Purifier. "He's my friend, not my boyfriend! So, anyway, he chased off those goons who kidnapped me! He's also the one who brought me home!"

"Aw, such a sweet boy. I'd love to have him as a grandson-in-law," admired Siberia's grandmother. Siberia didn't reply. She and Tora just blushed away heavily. However, Siberia's grandfather, Eagun, suddenly stiffened as he looked at Tora. He rushed towards Tora and looked down at him. Tora looked back up at the towering grandfather of Siberia, feeling quite uneasy.

"Hey…" Eagun began. "Have you ever heard about Shadow Pokémon, lad?"

"Well, uh… Yes," replied Tora simply.

"Do you have any of them with you right now?"

"I have two Shadow Pokémon. One is a Makuhita and the other is a Quilava."

"Then, do you know how to save them from their shadowy states?"

"Uh… Through purification?"

"Yes, but _**how **_do you exactly go about purification?"

Tora was stumped. He had no idea how purification could rescue a Shadow Pokémon from its shadowy state. He only knew that purification would definitely help, though. However, other than that, Tora could be considered an empty bottle whose contents have been taken away, like how Eagun stumped Tora with his sudden gush of questions.

"Hey, Grandpa?" Siberia asked. "I'm just wondering… Why are you asking Tora all of this?"

"Siberia, do you have any idea that he's a Purifier?" Tora stiffened.

"Yeah, I do. I've even told him that _**a lot of times**_ but he never listened to me."

"Lad!" Eagun yelled, turning back to face Tora. "You are a Purifier, lad! And not just any ordinary Purifier at that!"

"Uh… What are you babbling about?" Tora asked.

"I'm trying to say that you are truly a Purifier, able to initiate the Purification process for Shadow Pokémon to be saved from their shadowy states! Lad, this village is famous for its Purification Forest, where Celebi is said to live, but a Purifier is much better than going to the shrine here. This may sound confusing, but lad, if you want to save your Shadow Pokémon, use your Pure Powers to initiate the Purification!"

"……………"

Deathly silence crept in, engulfing Tora, Siberia and her grandparents. The other villagers obviously had no idea of what was going on, so they resumed their daily activities. Eagun was waiting for an answer from Tora while Tora was having a hard time deciding. Siberia knew in her head that Tora would definitely say something to declare that he wasn't a Purifier, and her grandmother just stood there worriedly.

"Alright," Tora broke the silence. "What do I have to do to initiate the Purification?"

Siberia's eyes widened in shock. Tora was actually accepting the fact that he was a Purifier! It seemed all too good to be true to Siberia. She realized, that if Tora completely accepted the fact that he was a Purifier, it wouldn't be long till she revealed to him a secret that she had bottled up for so long.

"First, you have to gather up all of your Pure energies, and concentrate on them with all your heart, soul and mind," instructed Eagun. Tora decided to send out Makuhita first, and told the Shadow Pokémon to stay where he was. Tora took a deep breath and concentrated all of his power to himself. After a few moments, Tora was totally engulfed in a white glow surrounding him, and his fur was beginning to fly around wildly.

"Next, think about all the times you've spent with the Shadow Pokémon, even the bad times. If you have remembered all of those times, then proceed to wishing – in your thoughts – that the Shadow Pokémon can be saved."

Tora closed his eyes, remembering all the times he had with Makuhita. There weren't many times, but those times that they had with each other were mostly good times. As Tora recollected all of those good times, he began thinking about saving Makuhita from its shadowy state. He wished very sincerely and deeply about doing so. The white glow became even brighter as Tora had succeeded the steps.

"Now, clear your mind of all thoughts, except for one, which is to just think about saving the Shadow Pokémon. Finally, channel all of your gathered energies into the Pokémon, and if your willpower is strong enough, it should be able to Purify the Shadow Pokémon in a flash."

'_Saving Makuhita… It's all about saving Makuhita… Once he's Purified and back to normal, I'm going to help Quilava, so I HAVE to save Makuhita… Saving Makuhita is my top priority for now…_' thought the Purifier as he concentrated even more on sending his Pure energies to Makuhita. Although he didn't open his eyes, he could feel the energy being accepted by Makuhita. He felt like as if a burden became a true ally, and like as if a curse had been lifted. Tora stopped as soon as the feeling disappeared. He opened his eyes a little, and saw Makuhita standing there, smiling widely at last.

At last…

Smiling widely at last…

It was official.

Makuhita was free.

"So, I guess I _**am **_a Purifier after all…" And before anyone knew it, Tora had totally blacked out.

In the meantime, somewhere near Tora's site, was a mysterious figure whose face was hidden by the shadows. The figure started to whisper to himself/herself, "So, that Tora has discovered the truth, eh? About being a Purifier and all? That's just so boring. The excitement is over already. Well… no matter. Even if Tora knows, my plan will still carry on. However… when I looked at how Tora handled that Purification… It was like as if he does it every single day of his life, minus the fainting part… Don't tell me that…?"

The figure's lips curled to a smug smirk. "Heh. We'll soon see if Tora is really one of the extinct kinds. I'll just have to put him to the test by sending more of my minions and Shadow Pokémon. That's right, we'll soon see… We'll soon see… If Tora is really… a Master Purifier."

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A/N: Whee… I love the suspense and romance! I named this chapter 'The Law of Purification' because it talked about Tora learning about the process of Purifier Purification. It's also the chapter which begins Tora's curiosity about his true power and past. Hmm… You're wondering what it is? Well, I'm not just going to tell you, am I? Nope! (smiles evilly) What makes you think I'd do that? No one does that!

And the reason why Tora and Siberia went to Agate is because I already told you; I don't follow the storylines of the games.

Next chapter: Stan reaches Agate Village and finds Eagun, his mother's grandfather, making him Stan's great grandfather! Oh, what a twist of events! Eagun teaches Stan about whatever he needs to know about Purification, but does Stan realize that his true power can be awakened through constant using of Purification?

Shadow: Joy… I really hope so…

Aritia: Oooh! Stan will realize his true power?! I wanna see! I wanna SEE!!!!

Shadow: Don't act like a baby, Aritia. It seriously gets on my nerves.

Aritia: But I wanna see…!!!!!!!!!

Shadow: (slaps Aritia silly till Aritia gets a nosebleed and faints) Shut up.

Me: 0 0lll


	18. The Law of Purification: Present

Author's Note: I am so damn sorry if I have neglected this fic… Okay, not 'if'. I _**definitely **_neglected this fic. It's been weeks since I've last updated! However, it was necessary. I _**had **_to finish WDCK first, my Gakuen Alice fic. Then I can focus on this fic, and planning the sequel to WDCK, AND a new story idea for Hamtaro. Boy, I am one busy secondary schoolgirl.

Shadow: Just get on with the fic, U.R.

Me: Okay, okay.

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 18 – The Law of Purification (Present)

**Present…**

"Whoa…" Stan's eyes widened till they were as wide as saucers. His eyes sparkled anime style, and he looked at the surroundings around him. "Oh, awesome, dude!! _**This **_is Agate Village?! It's hard to believe that it's actually a retirement village for retired Pokémon Trainers!!!"

Indeed. The Agate Village of the present is beautiful beyond words and comparison. It is much more beautiful than it used to be in the past during Tora's time. The present Agate Village has more hills, and more mists and clouds surrounding it. There are more trees which have moss growing on them, and Grass type Pokémon sure love eating the moss off the trees for nutrition. The Agate Village of the present simply looked like a retirement paradise; truly an oasis. (A/N: Seriously, that was my first impression of Agate Village in Pokémon XD Gale of Darkness.)

"Hey, Nightshade, Danielle, come out of your Balls! You got to see this!" Stan offered. And as if on cue, Stan's favourite pair of Pokémon twins popped out of their Balls, and sat down quietly. As soon as they set their eyes on Agate Village, their tails went upright, and they became stiff. In fact, their entire bodies became stiff.

"Whoa, Stan, you weren't kidding," Nightshade managed to mutter out.

"Yeah, this place is so… so… _kirei_!!!" Danielle happily continued.

"Hmm, that Eagun guy we're looking for must be one lucky guy, being able to live in an oasis like this and all. Well, we'd better go look for him," Stan stated, recovering from the shock of seeing Agate Village. Nightshade and Danielle nodded, and walked alongside their young Trainer. They asked around for Eagun's house, and they were directed to the bungalow with the biggest tree growing near it. Stan went up to the doorstep, and knocked on the door. Stan, Nightshade and Danielle heard crashing and banging before everything became quiet, and the door opened quickly, revealing the same ol' Eagun in Tora's time, except for the fact that he had more wrinkles and a longer furry beard. "Uh, excuse me, but are you Eagun?"

"Why, yes I am, young one. What can I do for you?"

"Well, the thing is –"

"Oh, sorry, I don't have time on my paws right now. I have to fly! A special guest will be arriving any moment! I got to go and get ready for my guest to arrive! I'm sorry, young lad, but let's meet each other some other time, okay?" Without even waiting for Stan to answer, Eagun rushed down the slope and across the bridge. He rushed down another slope and entered a cave before disappearing into the darkness of the cave.

"…He… didn't even let me say my piece."

"Maybe he's busy for another guest, Stan," Nightshade suggested.

"Hold on a sec, bro. I'm the psychic one here, and I picked up some brain waves from Eagun. In case you haven't noticed, that was telepathy. And I discovered that Eagun's special guest is Stan," Danielle stated a little proudly.

"Since when did you get all high and mighty, sis?"

"Since I don't know when," was Danielle's simple reply. "But I _**do **_know that if you don't catch up to Eagun, you'd probably have to wait till hours later."

"Hours?!" Stan shouted in exasperation. "I can't afford a few hours! I doubt I can even afford to wait for half an hour! Within such a long period of time, there'll probably be tons of new Shadow Pokémon that are created! And besides, I have to Snag all of the present Shadow Pokémon! There's no way I'm going to wait _**that **_long! I'd better give chase!"

"Whoa, hold on, Stan! There's another way to get there faster, you know," Nightshade offered.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Have you forgotten that _**someone**_ is psychic? And that that _**someone **_is, oh, I don't know, right next to me? And that that _**someone**_-"

"Okay, okay! I get the point! _**I'll **_teleport Stan to where Eagun is! Now are you glad?" Danielle retorted, interrupting her elder twin brother. Nightshade just smirked. Stan, however, sweat dropped anime style, watching the twosome carry out their daily activity: having childish but not hurtful sibling arguments. Danielle closed her deep, beautiful violet eyes, and concentrated on using her teleportation. The jewel on her forehead glowed brightly, and purple outlines outlined her body. Soon, Stan, Nightshade and Danielle got teleported to where Eagun was, which was deep inside the cave he entered in a rush. As soon as they reached inside the cave, they were totally engulfed by the darkness within the cave. Stan blinked, Nightshade's eyes glinted a little, and Danielle shut her eyes tightly. (A/N: I kinda changed some aspects of the cave, making it totally dark. Because, well, I love the dark.)

"Um… Nightshade? I think it's time you used your dark abilities," Stan said. "Even though _**I **_should be able to see in the dark, my abilities _**are **_pretty limited, you know."

"I got it, Stan! Get behind me, Danielle!" Nightshade called out in the darkness, but received no reply. "Danielle?"

"Um… Brother? I _**am **_behind you," came Danielle's timid reply.

Nightshade sweat dropped, anime style. "Oh… I see." Nightshade then closed his eyes, and his moon rings glowed brightly, and when he reopened his devilish golden yellow eyes, they glowed as brightly as his azure moon rings, and looked around in the dark. His glowing moon rings illuminated the darkness in the cave, allowing Stan and Danielle to see in the former darkness. Nightshade's eyes stopped glowing, but his moon rings continued glowing as brightly as ever. "Okay, can you see in the dark now?"

"Yup. I'm blinded by the sudden brightness, though," Danielle replied weakly.

"I think I'd better get you back into your Ball, Danielle. I _**know **_you're not a denizen of the night, and neither are you able to take sudden brightness," Stan replied, recalling Danielle back into her Ball. "Okay, Nightshade, lead the way. Even though it's pretty bright in here, it'll be pretty dark up ahead. I'll still need you to lead the way."

"Got it, Stan. You can count on me for these kinds of tasks," Nightshade replied enthusiastically, leading the way through the cave for his Trainer. After a few moments, a light seeped into where Nightshade was walking towards to, and both Trainer and Umbreon realized that it was the end of the cave, and the entrance to another place. Stan recalled Nightshade, thanking the latter for helping, and rushed out of the dark cave, and into another mini oasis. It was green all around, for the trees were surrounding the place. Along the rock path, sharp and perfectly snipped blades of grass were outlining the rock path. As Stan continued walking on, he noticed that there was a shrine at the middle of the mini oasis. Stan went closer to it and stared at it intently, like as if he could sense something… _**pure **_from the shrine. Suddenly, he heard someone's footsteps behind him, and he turned around swiftly, coming face-to-face with none other than Eagun himself.

"Oh, it's you, young one. What are you doing here?" Eagun asked a little suspiciously.

"I followed you here. There's something I got to tell you and – "

"Halt! No need to speak! You're here to taint the great Celebi shrine, aren't you?"

"Taint? Celebi shrine?? I have no idea what you are talking about. All I _**do **_know is that I'm sent here by my mom, and she told me to look for you, Eagun!"

"_Chotto matte!_ Did you just say that your _**mother **_sent you here to look for me?" Stan nodded and Eagun continued, "Is your name Stan?"

"H-How did you - ?"

"Oh, so _**you **_are the special guest I've been waiting for! Oh, I am _**so **_sorry for interrogating you like that! I'm terribly sorry, truly I am. I thought you were a Tainter of some sort. Anyway, I was busy in that dark cave there, gathering some berries for you to savour as snacks. And when I came out here, I saw you so I thought that you were here to Taint the Celebi shrine. I am so sorry about that."

"Tainter? Taint? Celebi shrine? Okay, I'm confused," Stan muttered out, stumbling backwards. He supported himself by gripping onto a nearby tree trunk, and in doing so, he felt a tingling sensation as he held onto the tree. His fur stood upright, and tingled due to the tingling sensation. Somehow, though, after the tingling sensation was over, he felt at ease and felt calm and peaceful. Eagun noticed the fur of Stan tingling. "Whoa, what _**was **_that?" Stan asked himself quietly.

"You are Stan, correct? Stanley Tiger?"

"Uh, yeah, but just don't call me Stanley. It gets on my nerves sometimes."

"Okay, you are the son of my granddaughter Siberia, yes?"

"Hold your Horseas! _**You're **_the father of the father of my mother?!"

"…Huh?"

"In short, are you… my great grandfather?"

"Well, if you put it that way, yes I am. And I have noticed that you, like all of our ancestors, have Pure blood flowing through your veins, yes?"

"Uh… Yeah, I suppose so, if you're implying that I am a Purifier."

"I thought so, for when I first laid my eyes on you, I sensed great and immeasurable Purity coming from you, Stan."

"Okay, that's it, I am _**confused**_. I mean, 'great and immeasurable Purity'? How the heck can I achieve _**that **_when I can't even fully control my abilities?" Stan asked, dumbfounded.

"I'll ask you to demonstrate it for me. And besides, your mother sent you to look for me because she wants me to train you personally. Well, at least, train you in the aspects of Purification of Purifiers."

"Uh, I don't think that's what she told me though…"

"I think she didn't want you to know that she sent you here just for training. Anyway, I'll get you to demonstrate your abilities for me."

"Uh, hello?! Great grandfather! In case you've forgotten, I can't control my abilities! I can't even control Pure Power 02!"

**HOLD YOUR HORSEAS! (A/N: Kind of like a parody to 'hold your horses'.)**

**Let's take a look at our database here...**

**PURE POWER 02: P.P.S.**

**Data: P.P.S., or also known as Pure Psychic System, is the ability to: perform telepathy with Pokémon, read minds of Pokémon, levitate Pokémon/PokéBalls, teleport Pokémon/PokéBalls, etc. The P.P.S. is anything psychic that has to do with Pokémon, PokéBalls or both. Through P.P.S., Purifiers get to know their Pokémon better. However, if a Purifier can't control this ability yet, he/she will be unable to advance to the other more powerful and harder-to-control Pure Powers.**

"Tsk, tsk tsk. Stanley, Stanley, Stanley…" Eagun taunted. Stan sweat dropped.

"Uh… Is it _**that **_poor that you have to say my real name thrice over and over again?"

"Well, no. I just did that you indirectly tell you that you shouldn't give up so easily. True, you may not be able to control Pure Power 02; however, you shouldn't give up. Just because you have trouble controlling one Pure Power doesn't mean that you can't control other more advanced ones."

"What's _**that **_supposed to mean? I thought Purifiers can't advance to higher-leveled Pure Powers until they fully master the lower-leveled ones."

"That only applies to _**normal and ordinary Purifiers.**_"

"N-normal and ordinary Purifiers…? Okay, I am SO totally confused right now?!"

"Just now, when you held onto the tree trunk for support, you felt something tingling, yes? Like as if your body is telling you that you sense a strong Pure or Tainting presence, right?"

"Well… It was more of sensing something Pure…"

"That is Pure Power 03: The Purifier Instinct."

**HOLD YOUR HORSEAS!**

**Let's take a look at our database here…**

**PURE POWER 03: THE PURIFIER INSTINCT**

**Data: A Purifier normally has the Purifier Instinct, which is a mental ability to sense strong Pure or Tainting presences near the Purifier. To sense something Pure, a tingling sensation is flowed throughout the entire body of the Purifier. To sense something Tainting, a cold sensation is flowed throughout the entire body of the Purifier. Although this ability seems simple, it is actually harder to control than Pure Power 02, because in order to fully master this ability, the Purifier MUST be able to fully master Pure Power 02, for this ability requires strong psychic senses.**

"Well, I think that's convincing enough… Okay, I'll believe you for now, Great Grandfather."

"Good, at least you believe me. Now, I'm going to teach you something that I taught your father when he was your age. The Purification Process, also known as Pure Power 05."

**HOLD YOUR HORSEAS!**

**Let's take a look at our database here…**

**PURE POWER 05: THE PURIFICATION PROCESS**

**Data: This is the most basic Purification skill a Purifier acquires after fully mastering Pure Powers 01 to 04. The Purifier focuses on Purifying a Shadow Pokémon, and as a result, a great deal amount of Purity has to be sacrificed in order to Purify the Shadow Pokémon. This Purity lost in Purifying the Shadow Pokémon can be replenished by a few days' worth of unconsciousness. This is also the highest level a normal Purifier can reach. As for Master Purifiers, they are able to advance till Pure Power 15, which is the highest level for Purifiers discovered so far.**

"Right! Now it's Purifying time!" Eagun shouted enthusiastically. "Do you have a Shadow Pokémon with you right now, Stan-kun?"

"A-ah? I do, but uh, I've barely spent much time with it. C-could you give me more time?"

"Oh, sure, that's no problem at all. In the meantime, I'll be waiting here in case you ever need me!"

"Oh, thanks Great Grandfather!" Stan thanked, as he rushed out of the Celebi shrine location and into the dark cave once more. Eagun turned around, and sighed sadly. He looked up at the sky, and saw some random clouds drifting by. Eagun sighed again, reminiscing the time when Siberia informed him about Tora's sudden death and how she had been the cause of her death. Eagun never blamed Siberia, for it was a difficult choice to make, but of course, when you think about the future, you'd definitely choose to save Stan if you were Siberia. Eagun sighed yet again and looked at the fading figure of Stan.

"Your father was a Master Purifier, and a great one at that…" revealed Eagun. "He was probably the most powerful Master Purifier I have ever seen in my life. He displayed no hesitation in using his Pure Powers when facing Shadow Pokémon and Cipher. He was the bravest and the best Master Purifier I have ever met. I'm glad that he could get together with your mother and produced you, Stan. Has he ever told you that someday, you'd be his successor?" As Stan's figure totally disappeared into the darkness, Eagun shed a small tear and whispered, "Maybe not. But maybe… just maybe… by using your powers continuously, I'm sure you will be able to discover your true potential, Stan. I wish you luck in tapping into your true power."

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A/N: And end of chapter! If you're wondering why those gigantic bold letters are there for, they are there to notify you readers when a Pure Power is mentioned and you don't even know what the characters in the story are talking about. So I have provided this database of all Pure Powers, and there'll also be a database of all Tainting Powers, so you'll have to keep an eye out. And also you'll have to kinda get the gist of the powers, because I won't be showing their databases again in following chapters.

Next chapter: Tora and Siberia are about to set off to their next destination when Cipher suddenly takes over Agate Village and takes control of everything in it! It's up to Tora and Siberia to stop Cipher before they kill off all Purifiers within the village! Entitled 'Cipher is Unfolding (Past)'! Hint number 5 is in the next chapter!

_K__irei: beautiful/clean__　きれい_

Aritia: WHEE! HINT NUMBER 5!!

Shadow: (knocks her out) Shut up.

Me: o.0


	19. Cipher is Unfolding: Past

Author's Note: I am so sorry for not updating recently. Yes, Anonymous, I do realise that you have been reviewing, and I am grateful for that. However, you have to understand that I am not so free to update all the time. I have 2 other fics to think about, one of which is of great value to me. And this chapter will be pretty short because I am rushing through it. And I want to say: that is a really good suggestion, Anonymous, but that's not what I have in mind. I've already planned this story beforehand, thus it will end up having 100 chapters. However, about Dexter and Howdy... Let's just say that they aren't of great importance at all. And Stan's true enemy is even closer than that, I'm afraid. Don't worry, another hint will be revealed here.

Shadow: DON'T SPOIL IT!

Aritia: SPOIL IT!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters. And I've changed the Battle Mode format. It is the same format as the novel format.

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Chapter 19 – Cipher is Unfolding (Past)

**10 years ago…**

Siberia settled down on a chair, reading a book from her grandfather's shelves of books. She flipped the pages mindlessly, waiting anxiously for Tora to awaken. It had been several hours straight since Tora had fainted, and Siberia was beginning to get exceptionally worried. Tora had not fully accepted the fact that he was a Purifier, and yet Siberia's grandfather, Eagun, had put him through something so tough like Purification. It would kill an ordinary Purifier like her to reach that stage so quickly without even mastering the lower levels. Upon thinking about that, Siberia's mindset turned to Tora: What would become of him now that he knew that he was a Purifier? Did that mean that Siberia would have to reveal a certain Purifier secret to him?

Siberia finished flipping through the pages of her tenth book, and took another victim from the bookshelf. Eagun looked at her worriedly, but just figured that it was a sign of a huge crush on Tora, so he just let it be, and let his darling granddaughter continue torturing his precious books. Siberia hadn't even noticed that her grandfather was watching her, as she was too busy reading the books. Time went by so slowly it felt like as if time wasn't flowing at all. Siberia was just way too worried. She felt like punching Tora right in the face, yelling for him to wake up, but of course, that was cruel, even for Siberia. All she managed to do was shake him a little, and left him there, unconscious.

"Tora-kun…" Siberia nudged. "Tora-kun…!" She tossed the book she was holding onto aside, and began shaking Tora violently. "Tora Tiger! I command you to WAKE UP!"

Of course, she received no reply from the knocked out Purifier-in-training.

"You idiot! Why won't you wake up already?!"

No reply.

"I'm _**tired **_of waiting for you to wake up! It's been 8 hours! That's enough sleep for you, you sleepyhead! So wake up!" Siberia blinked twice in rapid motion, and sighed, "Oh great, I'm sounding like a mother." She continued, "Wake up…!!!!"

No reply.

"Argh!! I can't take it anymore! If you don't wake up within the next 2 hours, I am going to kick you in the stomach and continue bashing you up till you wake up!"

"Then what if I wake up now?"

Siberia blinked, and stared at the sleeping Tora. True enough, his mouth was moving, and words were coming from his mouth. He slowly opened his eyes, and Siberia smiled. "What took you so long?"

"It would've become a whole lot longer, if not for some loudmouth girl who screams so loudly that even the dead could wake up."

"_NANI?!_"

"Oh, and I have to admit though…" Tora sat up and looked at Siberia in the eyes. Tora's eyes glinted. "You act just like my mom."

For the next half an hour, Tora was groaning in pain due to all the punches and kicks Siberia presented him.

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For the next few days or so, Eagun had been acting rather strangely. He was pacing up and down and up and down the corridors of his house, occasionally sighing away sadly or watching really random channels. Siberia noticed it and told Tora, but Tora just commented, "Maybe it's just age getting to him."

Siberia smacked him on his head. "That's not a nice thing to say about my grandpa!"

"Ow, take it easy, Siberia-chan! I was just kidding!"

"But still! You have to mind your manners!" Siberia shouted, giving Tora a death glare. Tora backed away timidly.

"Okay, okay, I understand."

"What's going on here?" Eagun asked a little suspiciously. "Oh, it's just you, Tora and Siberia."

"Grandpa! Just the one I'm looking for! Grandpa, can you tell Tor-Tor here that there's nothing weird about you recently?"

"Tor-Tor?!" Tora exclaimed. "How dare you call me names!?"

"Why can't I, Tor-Tor?" Siberia teased.

"Okay, enough fighting, you two lovebirds. I think you _**do **_deserve the right to know what is going on with me, but I assure you, there's nothing wrong with me... or my age."

Tora hid behind Siberia and chuckled nervously with a sweat drop on his face.

"In fact, I have been suspecting something wrong going on here..." Eagun trailed off, walking to a window and glancing outside. "I have been suspecting for quite some time that Cipher has infiltrated Agate Village.

"_N... Nani?!_" both Tora and Siberia shouted simultaneously.

"Hold on and let me finish first. I've been suspecting it for quite some time already... I've first suspected it when some of the Agate Village people have been acting rather strangely these past few days... And moreover, I've seen Cipher troops posing as security guards around here, not allowing anyone to get in or out. We have a serious matter on our paws here. I don't know what they're up to, but since it's Cipher, it's definitely no good."

Before Tora and Siberia could reply, there were loud knocks on the door. Eagun didn't bother to answer it, and neither did Tora nor Siberia. For a moment or two, there was uneasy silence, and a loud voice from outside shouted, "Eagun Hono! I, one of the Cipher Admins, demand you to hand over Tora Tiger and Siberia Hono to us immediately, or else this entire Agate Village shall belong to Cipher!"

"_N... Nani?! Doshite?!_" Siberia screamed back.

"The reason is simple! I've been given orders by my boss to get rid of all the remaining Purifiers ever to walk on this planet! And that would include you two!"

"But what do you want with Agate?!"

"Its special Purifying Celebi shrine would be of great use to us... We can study it, and transform its Purifying waves into Tainting waves, thus allowing us to create Shadow Pokémon even easier than before! However, it would be a whole lot better if Purifiers don't even exist... because that way, no Purifier can stop Cipher from achieving our goals! Now get out there and show yourself!"

"Why you...!"

Tora held up his paw to stop Siberia from going anywhere near the door. "Hold on, Siberia. You stay, and I'll go."

"W-what? Are you insane?!" Eagun shouted.

"Tora, I can't let you fight alone!" Siberia continued.

"I know that! But I can't risk you or your grandparents' lives!" Tora looked down at his paws and they emitted a silvery white aura. "I have the ability to stop them, so I will! And you have no say in this! Come on, Lunarina! Solarito!"

Upon hearing their Trainer call for them, the sister and brother Umbreon and Espeon rushed down the staircase and to Tora's side. They marched towards the door and Tora opened it with great force. He went off and decided to face the Cipher Admin alone, with Siberia and her grandparents looking after him with a worried look on their faces.

"Hey, you! You must be Tora!"

"And you must be that loudmouth Cipher Admin."

"L-loudmouth?!"

"Save your breath. I don't want to waste time arguing with you. If you want Agate..." Tora set his paws on white fire. "... you're going to have to get through me."

"T-that's...!" Eagun gasped.

"W-what is it, Grandpa?" Siberia asked worriedly.

"That's Pure Power 08: The Pure Fire!"

**HOLD YOUR HORSEAS!**

**Let's take a look at our database here...**

**PURE POWER 08: THE PURE FIRE**

**Data: The user can summon up purely white flames on his/her hands and fire them towards enemies. The enemies have a high chance of getting burned, and this ability can only be used by Master Purifiers. The Pure Fire can also attack in various ways, for example, it can be in the form of a Fire Spin except with white flames and etc. **

"Oh ho, so you've achieved Pure Power 08. No matter, it's not like it'll be of any threat to me. Kingdra!" the Cipher Admin shouted, sending out his Kingdra. Tora momentarily stopped sending out the Pure Fire and stared hard at the Kingdra.

"Hey, Siberia! You can sense its aura too, right?!" Tora shouted. Siberia nodded, even though Tora didn't see it, but he knew that his instinct was right. "Well, that confirms my suspicions! This Kingdra is a Shadow Pokémon!"

"So you've noticed," the Cipher Admin scowled. "Kingdra, Shadow Break!"

"Whoa! Lunarina, Solarito, dodge it and use your attacks! _**Any **_attacks! Now go!" Tora commanded. Lunarina decided to use Faint Attack while Solarito tried using Confusion. Both attacks struck the Shadow Kingdra which fell to the ground with a sickening thud. The Cipher Admin cursed under his breath, while Tora smirked confidently. He used Pure Fire and hulled some Pure fireballs towards the Kingdra, which totally weakened the Kingdra even though it was at a type advantage: fire against water wouldn't be very effective, yet the Kingdra managed to get nearly wiped out.

"Grandpa, why did that Kingdra...?"

"I know what you're trying to ask, and I'll tell you the reason. There are two types of Pokémon, am I right?" Siberia nodded and Eagun continued, "One is the normal Pokémon we usually see every day while the other is the Shadow Pokémon. Shadow moves are super effective against normal Pokémon, while normal attacks' effects vary depending on the type. But did you know that there is one more Pokémon type?"

"One more?"

"Yes, it is the Pure Pokémon. They have the exact same moves as Shadow Pokémon, except that they are all Pure, like Tora's Pure Fire, which is silvery white. For example, Shadow Rush emits a shadowy aura while attacking but Pure Rush emits a silvery white pure aura while attacking instead. And when Pure moves are used against Shadow Pokémon, it is super effective, no matter what type category it is. And vice versa, of course."

"Why is that?"

"Shadow Pokémon can be Purified, but of course, they would resist Purification naturally. However, if Pure moves are used on them, it would slowly drop their resistance, thus weakening them so they are super effective against Shadow Pokémon, for Shadow Pokémon can be Pure or normal Pokémon once more. However, when a Shadow move is used on a Pure Pokémon, it is also super effective. This is because usually when you get something that is white and pure, after some time, it would become dirty. The same concept applies to Shadow Pokémon attacking Pure Pokémon, for the Shadow moves can, in one way or another, Taint the Pure Pokémon."

"Oh, I see, so Tora-kun is somewhat at an advantage..."

"Alright, I can Snag it now!" Tora shouted. He asked for Siberia to toss him his Snag Machine which she immediately did of course, with no violent objections. Tora put it on immediately, and summoned up a PokéBall-cum-Snag Ball, and threw it towards the fallen Shadow Kingdra. After three timely shakes, the PokéBall stopped shaking.

Tora had successfully Snagged his third Shadow Pokémon.

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A/N: End of chapter, done, finished. Are you happy now?

Next chapter: Stan improves on his Pure Powers, and reaches Pure Power 05 easily and Purifies his Shadow Eevee. However, the joyous occasion comes to an end when Stan has to stop Cipher from taking over Mt. Battle! And what's worse, a witness who has seen Cipher's hideout is in Mt. Battle! What will Stan do to stop them from taking over Mt. Battle and consequently losing his only lead to Cipher's headquarters?

Hint no. 5: The Ham-Hams have absolutely nothing to do with Cipher, even in the future! Only ONE Ham-Ham is Stan's true enemy in the end.

Shadow: This will be good... not.

Aritia: This will be bad... not.

Me: Just _**make up your mind**_.


End file.
